Cameron Rae murder trial: Court views CCTV of alleged Perth victim before his death

Friends and family of an alleged Perth murder victim wept as some of his last moments were shown at a high court trial.

CCTV showed Cameron Rae smiling as he climbed the stairs towards a property on the top floor of a building on the city’s South Methven Street.

Less than 90 minutes later he passed away, allegedly stabbed to death by Caleb Ferguson.

Ferguson is standing trial at the High Court in Edinburgh accused of crimes, including Mr Rae’s murder on April 8 2023.

The second day of evidence focused on CCTV in both Perth and Arbroath, where Ferguson is accused of travelling in a bid to establish an alibi for the time Mr Rae’s death.

CCTV review

DC David Feeney told the court officers had carried out a systematic review of CCTV to establish Mr Rae’s last movements

The 20-year-old was seen sitting on a bench in the city’s Mill Street before a fateful meeting at 9.07pm with Connor Kelly.

The court had previously heard from Mr Kelly he had invited Mr Rae to the flat, where he had been drinking and taking drugs with Ferguson.

Asked by advocate depute Greg Farrell how Mr Rae had appeared in the footage, he replied: “He appeared to me to be intoxicated.”

Asked by Mr. Farrell, if Mr. Rae appeared to be smiling as he rounded the corner of the staircase, he said: “he is, yes “.

The CCTV showed there was a window of 141 seconds in which Connor Kelly was out of the flat participating in a drug deal with a male on the ground floor.

He returned to the flat but three minutes later both he and Ferguson fled.

Later CCTV showed Ferguson attending at Arbroath police station at 3.30am the following morning, April 9, and telling officers he was stranded after a night out and needed a lift home to Perth.

999 calls

The court also heard a series of 999 calls in which Ferguson repeatedly stated he did not know what had happened to Mr Rae

Asked for more information by the emergency call handler, Ferguson replied: “I’m not sure, I just seen everything happen.”

Asked what he saw, he said: “I just seen blood.”

He also stated the incident “scarred me for life”.

In a separate call he told the handler he wanted to “make sure he (Mr Rae) was alright”.

When asked if he knew what had happened, he replied: “I’m clueless.”

‘I’m going to prison’

On Tuesday the court heard how Ferguson stated “I’m f***ed, I’m going to prison” as he fled the scene.

Connor Kelly said he had invited Mr Rae to the “party flat” where he and Ferguson had been consuming drugs and alcohol.

He said he returned from the drug deal to find Ferguson standing over an injured Mr Rae.

He called an ambulance before the pair fled.

They made a number of phone calls to others, in which Ferguson stated he had “plugged f*** out of Cameron Rae”, meaning “stabbed”.

Police found Mr Rae slouched unconscious on a sofa, with three stab wounds to his abdomen and he was declared dead shortly afterwards.

Ferguson, from Perth,  denies all the charges he faces including murder, assault, behaving in a threatening manner and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

The trial before Lord Scott continues.

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