THE mother of murdered six-year-old Alesha MacPhail has described the "intense" grief she feels over the loss of her daughter in her first television interview.
Georgina Lochrane, 24, said she also battles regret over allowing the schoolgirl to go on holiday to the Isle of Bute, where she was abducted from her grandparents' home, raped and murdered by16-year-old Aaron Campbell.
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Ms Lochrane told STV: "Some days I really miss her. I miss her every day, but some days it's intense."
She added: "I know I couldn't have done anything but there's still a part of me that feels guilty about what happened to her. Because I wish I didn't let her go."
Alesha's lifeless, mutilated body was found in woodland near Rothesay in July last year. Campbell was jailed for a minimum of 27 years in February over what was described by the trial judge as one of the "wickedest, most evil crimes" he had ever seen.
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Campbell is appealing the sentence.
MsLochrane, from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, said her younger daughter Courtneygives her strength to carry on every day, adding she now has more good days than bad days following help from Lanarkshire-based Families and Friends Against Murder and Suicide (FAMS).
She said: "I have a wee girl, if I didn't have her I'd just crumble and be with Alesha right now but I have her. So I don't know maybe she's my strength.
"I've got to fight for her now, she's my fight.
"Everyday when I wake up every morning, I know I'm waking up for her."
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Alesha's mother said there is not enough support for friends and family members bereaved through murder or suicide. She now hopes to raise funds for the charity which has helped her through her ordeal.
FAMS has been given the keys to its first premises in Motherwell and Ms Lochrane is fundraising to revamp the building, while also training as a volunteer.
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