A Perth man was having relationship issues on the night he took a rare psychedelic drug in such large quantities he overdosed, causing him to hallucinate and stab his mother to death.
Carol Cameron was trying to get her 31-year-old son Callum James Cameron help in August 2020 when she called triple zero and asked for an ambulance.
Carol Cameron, 63, died after being stabbed by her son Callum who was in a drug psychosis.
She told paramedics who arrived at her St James home that her son was “acting weird” after consuming ayahuasca, a plant-based psychedelic.
The 63-year-old tried to encourage her son to go with paramedics to hospital when his behaviour escalated. The ambulance crew retreated to their vehicle and called police for backup, when they heard Cameron reaching for a kitchen knife.
They could only watch in horror as he stabbed his mother 62 times while she screamed for help and attempted to drag herself away.
Cameron was sentenced on Friday over the attack Justice Joseph McGrath called “ferocious”, with the court hearing he had a long history of mental health concerns that were not addressed properly despite his mother’s attempts.
Cameron had also been using illicit drugs since he was 14 years old including heroin, LSD and methamphetamine.
On August 10, 2020, he had broken up with a girlfriend, the court was told, causing him to consume ayahuasca at the home he shared with his mother.
Carol suffered 62 stab wounds all over her body.
Armed police entered the home to find Callum “sat calmly” with his feet on a coffee table as his mother lay dying nearby. But he resisted when they tried to take him into custody, and he was Tasered. On the way to hospital he repeatedly asked if his mother was OK and if he was in trouble.
During his hearing in the Supreme Court of WA, Cameron previously denied the charge of murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. The matter went to trial, where McGrath found him guilty of murder, stating that he felt Cameron’s intention was to kill his mother, albeit in a drug-induced state.
McGrath acknowledged that Cameron suffered from underlying mental illness but stated that was not the cause of the incident.
Callum Cameron stabbed his mum 62 times in a drug-induced psychosis.Credit: Facebook
“There was no doubt you were acutely intoxicated,” he said.
“[But] voluntarily intoxicated … in a delirious state, disorientated and experiencing hallucinations.”
During sentencing McGrath told the court Cameron had suffered death threats and assaults in prison and had to be kept in restrictive custody.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 20 years.
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