A jury has been urged to convict a 20-year-old of murdering Perth stab victim Cameron Rae and to reject a verdict of culpable homicide.
Caleb Ferguson struck Mr Rae three times in the abdomen with a blade at a flat in the city’s South Methven Street on April 8 last year, a trial at the High Court of Edinburgh heard.
A pathologist told the trial the fatal blow had punctured his diaphragm and damaged his spleen, penetrating to nearly 11cm.
Ferguson offered to plead guilty to the lesser offence of culpable homicide at the start of the trial, substituting the word “murder” with “kill” in the charge but this was rejected by the Crown.
The evidence
The court heard Ferguson was found by friend, Connor Kelly, standing over injured Mr Rae when he returned to the flat after being out for 141 seconds doing a drug deal.
Mr Kelly said Ferguson was “standing over him saying he’d been talking about his (Ferguson’s) junkie dad”.
The pair fled after calling an ambulance and Kelly said he later heard Ferguson saying that “he was f***ed and he was going to jail”.
He said, during a phone call Ferguson said he had “plugged f*** out of Cameron Rae”, which he took to mean “stabbed”.
Mr Rae was pronounced dead shortly after police found him in the flat unconscious and slumped on a sofa, with wounds to his abdomen.
After the Crown closed its case on Thursday, Ferguson’s defence team called no witnesses.
Murder conviction urged
In his closing speech to jurors, prosecutor Greg Farrell said: “The accused knew very well that Cameron Rae was seriously injured when he left him in that flat and very well that he was in deep trouble.”
Mr Farrell suggested that in calls to the 999 handler, Ferguson may have been panicked but was not honest about what he had done and “seemed to be pretending” he did not know what had happened.
He added: “He knew precisely what happened because he had done it.”
The advocated depute suggested Ferguson’s major concern was for himself, later saying “he was “f***ed, he was going to jail”.
Mr Farrell also highlighted evidence Ferguson was seen on CCTV at Arbroath police station at 3.30am the next morning, wearing different clothing and claiming to have been on a night out there.
The advocate depute told jurors: “Emotion can play no part. You must be objective.
“Apply your common sense and your life experience to the evidence.
“The only proper verdict in my submission, with the evidence, is guilty of murder.”
Defence summation
Defence counsel Richard Goddard KC opened his closing speech with words spoken by Ferguson on the 999 call for an ambulance: “I am not too sure of his name but want to make sure he is alright.”
The lawyer said Ferguson has never made any secret of his responsibility for the fatal injuries to Mr Rae, saying his client told anyone who would listen that night.
He highlighted points of evidence from the trial which he argued are “critical” for jurors “to reach the right decision for the right reasons”.
He said there was no prior ill-will between Ferguson and Mr Rae, suggesting the comments about Ferguson’s father would maybe provoke some kind of fight but not prompt someone to deliberately kill another.
In particular, Mr Goddard highlighted Ferguson’s call to the ambulance, in which he gave the address of the flat and said: “just go there, please, please, please”.
Asked in a further call if he knew the injured man, Ferguson said: “I am not too sure but I want to make sure he is alright.”
The lawyer said these were the actions of someone urgently seeking medical help and not someone who intended to kill Mr Rae or did not care if he lived or died.
He said: “If that is what you think, you can not convict of murder.”
He said the “right thing to do” would be hold his client responsible for Mr Rae’s death by culpable homicide, adding: “We will have to bear the responsibility for that for the rest of his life.”
Ferguson originally faced allegations of another assault in Perth and fleeing to Arbroath – where he was said to have been abusive to police – to establish an alibi and attempt to defeat the ends of justice.
All charges except the murder of Mr Rae were dropped by the Crown at the end of its evidence on Thursday.
Jurors will consider their verdicts this afternoon.
The trial before Lord Scott continues.
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