{"id":445390,"date":"2026-02-25T20:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T20:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/445390\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T20:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T20:16:10","slug":"ex-gamekeeper-murdered-groundsman-with-shotgun-over-festering-grudge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/445390\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-gamekeeper murdered groundsman with shotgun over ‘festering’ grudge"},"content":{"rendered":"

An ex-head gamekeeper gunned down a former colleague on a country track near Aberfeldy having harboured a \u201cfestering\u201d grudge against him for years.<\/p>\n

David Campbell, 77, murdered Brian Low, 65, on February 16, 2024, having disabled CCTV cameras at his home in the Perthshire town in an attempt to conceal his whereabouts.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, he was jailed for a minimum of 19 years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Both men had worked at Edradynate Estate, where Campbell was head gamekeeper between May 1984 and February 2018 and Mr Low was a groundsman between August 2000 and February 2023.<\/p>\n

Campbell shot Mr Low at Leafy Lane near Pitilie \u201chaving previously evinced malice and ill-will towards him\u201d, leaving him so severely injured that he died at the scene.<\/p>\n

\"Ex-gamekeeper <\/a>\"Play<\/p>\n

Warning: This article contains images that viewers may find distressing<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

His body was found by a local man at about 8.30am on February 17.<\/p>\n

During a near three-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow, the jury heard police initially treated Mr Low\u2019s death as non-suspicious, and only began treating it as murder five days later.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/a>\"Play<\/p>\n

This was despite the fact Mr Low had around 30 injuries from shotgun pellets, and that pellets fell from his body bag when it was brought to a mortuary.<\/p>\n

During the trial the jury was told Campbell had harboured a \u201cfestering grievance\u201d against Mr Low, believing him to have planted evidence on the estate to frame him for the illegal poisoning of birds of prey.<\/p>\n

\"PoisonedAlan StewartPoisoned buzzard on Edradynate Estate in March 2009. Alan Stewart<\/p>\n

On the day of the murder, Campbell switched off the CCTV system at his home in an attempt to conceal his whereabouts.<\/p>\n

The 77-year-old then travelled to the scene of the killing on his wife\u2019s e-bike, wearing a \u201chooded jacket\u201d and armed with a shotgun carried in a bag slung on his back.<\/p>\n

The court was shown CCTV footage showing a hooded cyclist riding down a road towards the track where the shooting occurred at 4.18pm, and then coming back the other way shortly after 5pm.<\/p>\n

Mr Low was shot at about 4.52pm on February 16 \u2013 the time his phone is said to have stopped recording movement.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/a>\"Play<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Greg Farrell told the jury that once Campbell reached the scene, \u201cusing his shotgun, he shot Brian Low, hitting him on the face, chest and neck, and left him for dead\u201d.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cBrian Low was out with his dog Millie, going about his ordinary peaceful life. He was left to die on that track alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat shotgun blast killed him within minutes or perhaps seconds. Brian Low had no chance. He was unarmed and unaware.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a brazen, brutal and planned execution at a rural spot, a cowardly ambush motivated by nothing more than sheer malice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell\u2019s lawyer Tony Lenehan KC contested a number of points in the prosecution\u2019s case, including the timing of the killing, and the claim his client is the cyclist in the CCTV footage.<\/p>\n

\"Ex-gamekeeper <\/a>\"Play<\/p>\n

He said in February 2024 Campbell had a \u201cnice life\u201d and a \u201cloving partner\u201d, and that in the hours before the killing he had been on the phone to the council\u2019s planning department asking about changing his garage doors.<\/p>\n

He questioned whether it was \u201cremotely likely\u201d his client would have harboured such an animus against Mr Low that he would \u201cthrow everything away\u201d by killing him, so many years after the event that is said to have triggered it.<\/p>\n

Campbell had originally faced eight charges, including murder, breaches of the peace and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.<\/p>\n

However, on Friday, all but the murder charge were dropped and on Wednesday the jury found Campbell guilty by majority.<\/p>\n

Handing down his sentence, judge Lord Scott described the killing as an \u201cappalling and senseless act of extreme wickedness\u201d.<\/p>\n

He told Campbell: \u201cYou didn\u2019t encounter Brian Low by chance that day, and you didn\u2019t happen to have a shotgun with you.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the evidence, the jury decided that it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that in a carefully premeditated act, you murdered an unarmed and defenceless man by discharging a shotgun at him, causing him such severe injury that he died where he fell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Scott also referred to victim impact statements from Mr Low\u2019s partner Pam Curran and brother Douglas Low, and said his murder had had a \u201cprofound and lasting\u201d impact on his family.<\/p>\n

He told Campbell he had \u201crobbed\u201d Ms Curran of the chance to say goodbye to Mr Low, and that a friend had told her that since his death \u201cthe spark has gone out of her eyes\u201d.<\/p>\n

The judge added: \u201cBrian Low\u2019s family are left with only questions, not least why anyone would want to murder him so callously.\u201d<\/p>\n

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