BREAKING: Murderer of Perth man Cameron Rae must serve at least 16 years in prison
by Kirsty McIntosh · The CourierThe murderer of tragic Perth man Cameron Rae has been jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 16 years behind bars.
Caleb Ferguson stabbed 20-year-old Mr Rae to death at a flat in the city’s South Methven Street in April last year.
He was convicted of murder following a week-long trial in which he had admitted killing Mr Rae but denied the murder charge.
At the High Court in Edinburgh he was told it will be 16 years before he is eligible for parole.
A member of the public watching in court yelled “f***ing rot” as he was led away.
During Ferguson’s trial, the court head how Mr Rae was stabbed three times in a flat in South Methven Street on April 8 last year.
Ferguson and a friend then fled after alerting the authorities.
Police arrived to find Mr Rae grievously wounded and he passed away before he could be moved from the block.
An autopsy revealed he had more than a litre of blood in his chest, caused by catastrophic damage to the diaphragm, spleen and lung.
In phone calls as he fled the scene, Ferguson said “I’m f***ed, I’m going to prison” and “I plugged f*** out of Cameron Rae” – meaning stabbed.
Because Ferguson did not give evidence, no reason for the assault has been revealed.
He had been brought back to the flat by Ferguson’s friend, who did not witness the fatal knife strokes because he went downstairs to carry out a drug deal.
After the conviction, Mr Rae’s grief-stricken mother Kerry Burgess, said: “Nothing will ever be enough in my eyes – my boy is never coming home, ever.”
She had been angered by the behaviour of some of the accused’s supporters in court during the trial.
Earlier this month Ferguson was sentenced for two cases that predated Mr Rae’s death.
At Perth Sheriff Court he pled guilty to having a knife in Crammond Place on November 6 2022 – less than six months before he killed Mr Rae.
And he admitted driving a black BMW with 20 times the permitted level of cocaine in his system on the M90, near Kinross Services, a month later.