Man found guilty of stabbing another man to death in Perth

A 20-year-old man has been found guilty of a murder in Perth he committed when he was a teenager.

Caleb Ferguson was found guilty of the murder of Cameron Rae, 20, at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Mr Rae was found with three stab wounds to his chest at a flat on South Methven Street in April 2023.

At the start of the trial, Ferguson admitted killing the victim and offered to plead guilty to the lesser crime of culpable homicide but the Crown rejected his plea.

As the jury returned their guilty verdict, one woman in the public benches shouted "brilliant" and clapping briefly broke out.

The court heard how Ferguson, then 18, repeatedly struck Mr Rae on the body with a knife with one wound causing fatal internal damage.

He then fled from the scene of the murder and later appeared at Arbroath police station wearing a change of clothes and claiming he had been on a night out in the Angus town and needed help getting back to Perth.

The trial judge, Lord Scott, told Ferguson following his conviction that the law provided for only one sentence and a life sentence would be imposed.

Lord Scott said he was required to fix a minimum term, known as a punishment part, that Ferguson will serve before he becomes eligible to seek parole.

He added this was "a tragic case" and that there was appeal court authority that indicated a starting point for such cases would be about 16 years.

The court heard that after the fatal attack, Ferguson told his sister over the phone he had "plugged" Cameron Rae.

Witness Connor Kelly, 19, told the court that earlier in the day he was at a bar in Perth with others watching an Old Firm game when Ferguson joined the group.

Mr Kelly then left the bar with Ferguson to continue drinking at the flat on South Methven Street.

On a trip out of the flat, he said he came across Mr Rae who had been drinking and invited him back to the flat.

Mr Kelly said that at one point, he left Ferguson and Mr Rae in the flat as he went to carry out a drug deal and returned to find Mr Rae injured and Ferguson looking angry.

Advocate depute Greg Farrell told jurors: "Caleb Ferguson said something about Cammy having called his dad a junkie and that appears to be the only explanation offered by Caleb Ferguson as to why he stabbed Cameron Rae to death."

The prosecutor said: "The evidence in this case shows a murderous attack demonstrating that the accused Caleb Ferguson either intended to kill Callum Rae or was wickedly reckless as to whether Callum Rae lived or died."

Ferguson is due to be sentenced at the high Court in Glasgow on 6 November.