Ex-gamekeeper 'shot former colleague to death before hiding weapon'

A former head gamekeeper has gone on trial charged with the murder of a groundsman from the estate where they once worked.

David Campbell, 77, is accused of shooting Brian Low to death at Leafy Lane near the Pitilie Track in Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross, on February 16, 2024.

The charge states Campbell had initially disabled CCTV cameras at Tigh Na Caorann in the town’s Crieff Road in an “attempt to conceal” his whereabouts.

He is then alleged to have discharged a shotgun at Mr Low leaving him so severely hurt that he died at the scene.

The 65-year-old passed away from gunshot wounds to the neck and chest.

Prosecutors claim Campbell had previously shown “malice and ill-will” towards Mr Low before the shooting.

Both had previously worked together on the Edradynate Estate in Aberfeldy – Campbell between 1984 and 2018, Mr Low from 2000 to 2023. The men each lived in cottages tied to the estate.

Campbell faces a separate charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice following the death.

This includes a claim that he got rid of the shotgun at an unknown location.

He is said to have had two replacement tyres fitted on an e-bike that he used during the alleged shooting.

Campbell also allegedly dumped a number of items, including a box and a cartridge bag, at Aberfeldy Recycling Centre.

It is further claimed he disposed of an air gun – also at an unspecified location – that he had often discharged over a seven-year period at Tigh Na Caorann.

Campbell denies the accusations. His legal team – led by KC Tony Lenehan – have lodged a special defence of alibi.

It is said he was not in Leafy Lane at the time of the alleged killing and was instead at home in Aberfeldy.

Campbell also faces five separate breach of the peace charges spanning between July 1995 and September 2012.

He is said to have acted in a disorderly manner, putting three men and two women in a “state of fear and alarm”.

One of them, a retired police inspector, was the first witness in the trial.

The now 78-year-old was latterly a wildlife crime co-ordinator in the Perthshire area after leaving the force.

He met Campbell while investigating alleged bird poisoning on the Edradynate Estate.

Prosecutor Greg Farrell asked the witness if there was “a certain amount of tension” between them due to their respective roles.

He replied: “Yes.”

Mr Farrell asked: “Did you form the impression that David Campbell did not like you much?”

He again replied: “Yes.”

The witness then spoke of a “chance encounter” with Campbell at a summer game fair at Scone Palace in Perth in the summer of 1995.

The former police officer was there with his wife and granddaughter.

The men passed each other in an aisle. Asked if Campbell said anything, the witness told jurors: “He looked across and said: ‘It is great what vermin you see when you have not got a gun’.”

He stated he was “absolutely” sure Campbell made the remark at him.

He added: “It was not said as a joke. It was said with a bit of venom. He was not shouting; he was only five yards away.

“It was not a nice thing to have said. My wife and granddaughter were quite upset.

“I was reasonably used to getting that type of threat, if you want to call it that.

“It upset them, but I was annoyed as it was made in a public place and my wife and granddaughter were there.

“I was off duty, so I just let it lie.”

In cross-examination, Mr Lenehan put to the witness that there is “no dispute” that Campbell said “something unpleasant” that day.

It was also said that Campbell may not have been the only gamekeeper not to be on the witness’s “Christmas card list”.

The trial, before Lord Scott, continues and is expected to last three weeks.