A judge has delayed the sentencing of two depraved killers for the murder and rape of a drugged and defenceless young Fife father to get further reports on the pair.
Dylan Brister and Cameron Allan are facing life sentences after they spiked Calum Simpson’s drinks, leaving him unconscious, before subjecting him to a horrifying sexual assault recorded on a mobile phone, then murdering him.
Father-of-three Mr Simpson, 24, died from intoxication with the Class C drug Etizolam and alcohol following the attack at Brister’s home in Methil.
The trial judge, Lord Harrower, will have to fix minimum terms – known as punishment parts – the pair will have to serve before they can apply for parole as part of the mandatory life sentences for murder.
At the High Court in Edinburgh, he agreed to adjourn sentencing for further supplementary or fresh criminal justice social work reports to be prepared on Allan and Brister and for reports from forensic psychologists.
Michael Anderson KC, for Allan, said he was seeking a supplementary social work report following the appeal court decision in the case of teenager murderer Daniel Haig in which his minimum term was reduced from 16 to 13 years.
Haig fatally stabbed schoolboy Justin McLaughlin, 14., at Glasgow High Street railway station in October 2021.
Mr Anderson said the appeal case dealt with the sentencing of someone under the age of 25, where sentencing guidelines for young persons apply.
Allan was 20 when he was convicted of the murder he carried out as a teenager.
Mr Anderson said a supplementary report on Allan could address more fully the trauma experienced by his client as a youngster and the guidelines.
Michael Meehan KC, for Brister, asked for the sentencing to be continued as the court could benefit from a forensic psychologist’s report and the background report prepared had “a number of deficiencies”.
Brister, 27, of Herriot Crescent, Methil, and his former fiancee Allan, now 21, of Berrylaw Place, Dunfermline, were unanimously found guilty of multiple offences against Mr Simpson, who had been a stranger to them when he came to the former’s home on November 2 2023.
They were convicted of murdering him by causing him to ingest Etizolam tablets – a super-strength version of valium – in alcoholic drinks without his knowledge, resulting in him losing consciousness and dying and failing to give or get medical help for him.
They were also found guilty of sexually assaulting and raping him after he was unconscious.
The victim’s wrists were bound with rope during the attack.
They blamed each other for the spiking with drugs bought by Brister with what he claimed was a £20,000 gambling win.
Tragic Mr Simpson’s partner, childhood sweetheart Bobbie Cowan, was the mother of his three children, including one born just 11 days before his death.
She told The Courier: “He was just a fun dad – he was the jokey one.
“They totally loved him and he was the soft touch. He did a lot of stuff with the kids.
“Calum was the perfect person for the four of us.
“He enjoyed socialising and really stayed the same as he had been – the life and soul.”
The family has also criticised the fact Allan was allowed bail throughout proceedings, during which time he was convicted at Kirkcaldy of a bizarre offence in which he asked a hotel worker to make a porn video with him.
The Courier also told how sinister Allan used his Facebook account to make posts about murder in the run-up to his appalling crime.
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