The lives of Cameron Rae and Barry Dixon, two young men from Perth, were tragically cut short by knife crime.
And this week their families united in grief to open up to The Courier about the daily heartbreak they face after losing Cameron, 20, and Barry, 22 – and discuss what they claim is a culture normalising a knife-carrying epidemic.
It comes as the Knife Angel sculpture, made up of 100,000 seized blades, arrived in the Fair City.
‘Crippled with grief’
Cameron’s dad Scott Rae – speaking publicly for the first time about the loss of his son – told us: “We don’t really know what life is anymore.
“Life for us now is so difficult.
“We must see an end to young people thinking it is ok to go out carrying a knife.
“Until there is a proper punishment and deterrent for murdering someone with a knife this will continue.”
Cameron, known as Cammy to his family and friends, was stabbed to death at a flat in the South Methven Street in April last year.
Last month his killer Caleb Ferguson was jailed for life at the High Court in Edinburgh and ordered to serve 16 years before he is eligible for parole.
Barry, 22, was knifed to death at a flat in Wallace Court in June 2019, with Robbie Smullen convicted of culpable homicide two years later.
Smullen – sentenced to eight years in prison – was out on bail when he stabbed Barry and set to appear in court the next day for brandishing an iron bar at him and his friends a year earlier.
Two weeks ago, he was granted temporary release from prison after being denied parole in October.
Jade Taylor, Barry’s aunt, says: “For us, now, we are merely existing.
“Time moves on and gradually other people forget. But, for us, Barry’s death will never go away.
“We will never get over the fact our beautiful boy, who grew up surrounded by love, spent the last moments of his life surrounded by monsters.
“We have been crippled with grief.”
‘Trying to make life work’
Cameron’s mum Kerry Burgess shares these sentiments.
She says: “We are trying to make life work when everything has been ripped apart.
“I find myself just bursting into tears some days, but we have to try to continue.
“We still have to try to explain one day that Cammy was murdered to his little brother, who is only six.
“He knows something bad happened, but we need to work out a way to tell him one day.”
Both families are supportive of the arrival of the Knife Angel sculpture – also known as the National Monument Against Violence And Aggression – in their home city.
The 27ft statue will be on display on King Edward Street throughout this month.
It was created to highlight the negative effects of violent behaviour and act as a memorial to those whose lives have been lost due to knife crime.
On Monday, Perth Museum staff welcomed the families and helped them set up their own tributes to Cameron and Barry against the Knife Angel backdrop.
Canvases of the boys were created by blacksmith Brian Meddicks, Jade’s partner.
Knife Angel message
Jade – who has supported The Courier’s A Voice For Victims campaign calling for reform of the parole system – says: “I hope the Knife Angel, and us speaking out, helps drive home to young people why they shouldn’t carry knives.
“It seems the carrying of knives has become normalised and isn’t being treated as seriously as it should be.
“Young people have to understand that it’s not normal to carry a knife.
“But they continue to do so in great numbers because there is no real punishment for doing so.
“If the youth justice system could hand out greater punishments they might listen and stop doing it – at the moment there is nothing to stop them and people are dying.”
In October, it emerged Cameron’s killer Ferguson, 20, was caught by police carrying a blade in Perth less than six months before the murder.
Last month, mum Kerry asked: “Why was Ferguson out having been caught with a knife?
‘Get knives off the streets’
Both families say the justice system has failed them.
Cameron’s dad Scott adds: “My feeling all along is that everything continues to be in place for the people who commit those crimes and not enough for the families of victims.
“We don’t need to keep hearing about the person who killed our son.
“What we want the authorities to concentrate on is getting knives off the streets.
“If friends and family of people who carry knives report it immediately, we could prevent what happened to us from happening to other families.”
“If police stepped in early to make sure he [Ferguson] wasn’t carrying a blade Cammy might still be alive.
“For us this tragedy will never go away – it still feels like it happened yesterday.
“It is with us constantly and we somehow have to try to go on living our lives without our son.”
Conversation