Life for body in cupboard killer

Carswell denied murdering Mr Mair at his home in Aberdeen
A man has been sentenced to life for murdering an Aberdeen drug dealer in his own home and then hiding his body in a cupboard.

Derek Carswell, 40, was found guilty of killing Robert Mair, 57, by a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Carswell, from Ayrshire, was told that he would serve a minimum of 16 years.

His co-accused, Stephen Rankin, was found not guilty of any part in the murder of Mr Mair in the city's Kettlehills Crescent in January.

Trial judge Lord Bracadale said Carswell had shown "extreme callousness".

After the verdict, defence QC Ian Duguid said Carswell had asked him to apologise to the family of Mr Mair.

He said: "Whatever took place it was never intended that Mr Mair's life should end on that particular day and in that way."

Mr Mair's body was found tied up inside a duvet in a cupboard by Grampian Police officers in February.

"The real challenge was to unravel what happened. The crime was five weeks old before we became aware of it"
Det Supt Alan Smith
Grampian Police

Father-of-two Mr Mair's family said in a statement after his death: "He was our dad and did not deserve to die in this way. He was a family man."

He was described as "respected and well-liked member of the Northfield community" who had turned to drugs following the death of his wife.

Carswell, of Dreghorn, denied murder by attacking Mr Mair and repeatedly striking him with a weight-lifters' weight, while also binding his arms and legs.

Witness Jane McBurnie, 18, told the trial she travelled to Aberdeen with her then boyfriend Carswell and Mr Rankin, also from Ayrshire.

She said they went to Mr Mair's house and she heard some noise before it went quiet.

Ms McBurnie said Carswell had come downstairs and said: "It has went wrong. I have just killed him."

She said Carswell had seemed all right and was smiling but that Mr Rankin was "really white and shaking".

'Really scared'

The men returned upstairs, then came back down with what appeared to be a body.

She and Mr Rankin sat in the living room "really scared" while Carswell searched the house. Later, she claimed, Carswell told her what had happened.

She said: "He said he had hit him [Mr Mair] with a weight or something he had in the bedroom."

During the trial, Carswell spoke of his bid to expose a link between corrupt police and an Aberdeen councillor.

He said he planned to steal a laptop from the home of then councillor Raymond Hutcheon.

Carswell said he believed it had evidence of wrongdoing by police officers going back to 2002.

Asked why he had done this, he said: "To prove, you know that Aberdeen police were, you know, doing things, wrong things."

The court heard Mr Hutcheon resigned from the council during the murder investigation.

Officer tribute

Grampian Police Det Supt Alan Smith, who led the inquiry, told BBC Scotland after the verdicts: "The crime was committed out of a grudge.

"Derek Carswell had been imprisoned and it was his belief that it was down to Bob Mair and information he may or may not have given to police.

"The real challenge was to unravel what happened. The crime was five weeks old before we became aware of it."

He said the victim's life had gone "off the rails" in recent years and added: "It's a very sad tale."

Mr Smith paid tribute to officers involved in the case.

He said: "This was a difficult and challenging investigation in that Carswell had planned and prepared for the crime.

"This allowed him to lay a false trail as to his whereabouts on the night in question and the inquiry team had to work extremely hard to prove he had indeed been in Aberdeen on the night in question."

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Scottish Courts
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites