Dog walker's gunshot death initially deemed non-suspicious

A man who died from gunshot wounds was initially thought to have suffered "a non-suspicious death", a murder trial has heard.

Brian Low was discovered lying on grass beside a track in rural Leafy Lane in Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross, on the morning of 17 February, 2024.

The jury was shown a number of graphic photographs of Low's body at the scene, including his blood-stained face.

David Campbell, 77, denies murdering the 65-year-old dog walker by shooting him and has lodged a special defence of alibi.

He denies a total of eight charges at the High Court in Glasgow.

PC Andrew Beattie, the first uniformed officer at the scene, gave evidence on the third day of the trial.

The court previously heard that Low was initially discovered by a man who knew him and that his black labrador Millie was also nearby, protective of her owner.

The body of Low, who lived nearby, had been covered with a blanket and a jacket when PC Beattie arrived.

The officer told prosecutor Greg Farrell that he could initially see blood on the man's hands and face.

He added: "I did not think it looked good."

PC Beattie stopped to call his supervisor before CID were alerted.

This was said to be a "standard procedure" for any outside death.

After speaking to other witnesses at the scene, PC Beattie left to try and speak to Low's partner Pamela Curran at the couple's cottage they shared with their granddaughter.

He eventually spoke to her at her work to break the news of Mr Low's death.

The constable went back to the scene to help Det Con Mark Chance take photographs of the body.

Mr Farrell asked PC Beattie: "Did you see the blood on Brian Low's face more clearly now?"

The officer said he had already seen it earlier and was "just more of the same, to be honest".

Asked what then happened, PC Beattie told the court: "I believe that he (Det Con Chance) spoke to a supervisor and I believe that it was to be treated as "non-suspicious death"."

PC Beattie then submitted a "death report" on that basis.

Jurors earlier heard that Low, who previously worked with Campbell on the Edradynate Estate in Aberfeldy, had died from gunshots wounds to the neck and chest.

Advocate depute Farrell asked: "If this had been assessed as a suspicious death and it had been realised that this man had been shot dead, the police would have reacted quite differently, is that fair?"

He replied: "Yes, it is."

The prosecutor asked: "If you had realised that he had been shot, you would have closed off the area as a crime scene?"

PC Beattie replied "yes".

Farrell continued: "But, on this occasion, it was treated as non-suspicious and the scene was not closed off.

"It was not treated as a crime scene until some time later, is that your understanding?"

PC Beattie replied: "That is my understanding."

The officer was later cross-examined by Campbell's lawyer Tony Lenehan KC.

Lenehan asked him that, from at least one of the photographs of Low's face, there were "multiple sites of injury".

PC Beattie said at the time that due to the amount of blood, it was "hard to tell".

Lenehan asked: "We will come to hear that there were a number of black holes representing the penetration of gunshot pellets. That not apparent at the time?"

PC Beattie said: "No, it was not apparent at the time."

The defence advocate suggested the assessment made "did not capture the correct info".

He added: "You can agree that is regrettable now?"

PC Beattie replied: "We can very much agree."

Det Con Mark Chance, who has been in CID for six years, told the trial he had seen blood on Low's face and hands.

Asked by prosecutor Farrell what his initial assessment was, the detective replied: "I believe that the injuries were consistent with him falling while out for a walk."

The prosecutor continued: "A medical event and the man has fallen and hit his face?"

DC Chance replied: "Yes."

Mr Farrell asked: "You now know that was wrong?"

The detective replied: "I do, yes."

DC Chance said there was nothing initially in his "thought process" that a man had been shot and killed in a field.

The officer accepted he had never dealt with a "firearm homicide" prior to that day.

Farrell said such events were still "relatively rare" in Scotland and more linked to organised crime in urban areas.

The prosecutor put to the detective that what happened to Low was "far removed from that".

Farrell said: "Fair to say the circumstances of this case, this rural location, a seemingly ordinary man walking his dog close to home…this perhaps influenced your assessment this was a medical incident and a fall.

"You now know that assessment was wrong?"

The detective replied: "I do, yes."

Defence KC Lenehan later pointed out to the witness that Low's face had 30 shotgun pellet injuries.

The advocate suggested that the initial belief of what had happened to him was a "glaring mistake".

This led to a forensic tent not being put up at the scene until six days later on 23 February.

Lenehan said this was all "a regrettable state of affairs".

He said: "The error of the identification of the type of death was widely reported at the time.

"The police force held an internal inquiry. Fair to say that this was all very embarrassing for Police Scotland?"

DC Chance replied: "Could not comment on that."

Lenehan asked: "As a police officer, you think it showed Police Scotland in its finest?"

He replied: "I do not, no."

Pamela Curran, Low's partner of 23 years, said that she found out he had died when police turned up at the care home where she worked.

She said the couple's sobbing teenage granddaughter was with the officers.

The 64 year-old told the court: "Their words were "Brian's dead"."

Curran said the news was a "great shock" adding "it is your whole world" and that the teenager being told without any "parental guidance" was "horrendous".

The witness told jurors she was not initially informed how Mr Low died before learning five days later police had started a murder investigation.

Farrell asked her: "Did Brian suggest he was worried about anything or any person?"

Curran replied: "Not that he mentioned."

Campbell, from Aberfeldy, is accused of murdering Low, having previously shown ill-will and malice toward him.

He is alleged to have disabled CCTV cameras at an address in Aberfeldy on the same day, in an attempt to conceal his whereabouts.

He is also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of the alleged murder weapon and an airgun, and having replacement tyres fitted on an electric bike between February and May 2024.

Campbell is further accused of possessing an air rifle without a licence and discharging it on various occasions, and faces five charges of breach of the peace dating back to July 1995.

He is alleged to have acted in a disorderly manner putting three men and two women in a "state of fear and alarm".

Campbell's legal team has lodged a special defence of alibi in connection with the murder accusation.

They say Campbell was not in Leafy Lane at the time of the alleged killing and was instead at home in Aberfeldy.

The trial before Lord Scott continues.