Killer driver led girlfriend to shallow grave where he buried cyclist

Tony Parsons disappeared during a charity bike ride in September 2017

A man led his girlfriend to the remote shallow grave where had buried a cyclist he killed three years earlier, a court has heard.

Drink-driver Alexander McKellar previously admitted hitting Tony Parsons as the cyclist travelled on the A82 near Bridge of Orchy in 2017.

The court heard that McKellar and his brother Robert took Mr Parsons' body to a nearby estate and buried him.

His body was recovered on the Auch Estate in January 2021.

The court was told that the remote location meant his body would probably never have been found without his girlfriend's revelation.

Alexander McKellar (left) and twin brother Robert appeared at the High Court in Glasgow

The High Court in Glasgow heard a summary of the case following McKellar's guilty plea on Wednesday.

He and twin brother Robert admitted trying to defeat the ends of justice by hiding Mr Parsons' body in 2017.

The High Court in Glasgow was told that Alexander McKellar, known as Sandy, had taken his girlfriend to see the grave site in 2020.

McKellar had told the woman that he was speeding when he hit the cyclist at night three years earlier.

He told her he had panicked and returned to the scene in a different vehicle with his brother to recover the body.

The court heard that the woman left a Red Bull can at the site of the grave as a marker, before contacting police.

McKellar's girlfriend left a Red Bull can at the site of the grave

A major search operation subsequently recovered Mr Parsons' body.

The court heard that Alexander and Robert McKellar, who are aged 31, were self-employed farm workers at the Auch Estate, where they stayed with their parents.

Mr Parsons, 63, had previously been treated for prostate cancer and wanted to cycle the 100 miles from Fort William to his home in Tillicoultry to raise money for charity to "give something back."

He arrived at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel at 23:00 on 29 September 2017 and left after having a coffee, planning to cycle through the night to his next stop.

The court heard that the brothers had dined with a hunting party at the hotel the same night.

Alexander McKellar, who had a string of driving convictions, drove towards the estate with his brother as a passenger.

Mr Parsons' body was buried on the Auch Estate

After the vehicle hit Mr Parsons, Alexander McKellar left the car and saw the cyclist was still alive.

He did not contact the emergency services but drove with his brother to Auch Estate, where they dumped their phones and returned in another vehicle.

The court heard that Mr Parsons, who suffered catastrophic injuries to his body, was unlikely to have survived more than 30 minutes after being hit.

The brothers placed the bike and body in the second vehicle and took it to the Auch Estate, where they hid it in a wooded area.

The next day Mr Parsons' body was moved to a secluded area of the estate, surrounded by a peat bog.

McKellar later told his girlfriend they had destroyed Mr Parsons' mobile phone and SIM card and burned his backpack, wallet and helmet.

The bike was hidden behind a waterfall and has never been recovered.

McKellar paid for repairs to the car he was driving at the time of the crash

McKellar then arranged for the damaged vehicle to be repaired in Airdrie, as a cash job costing between £2,000 and £3,000.

In August 2018, police received a letter saying to "pay attention" to the twins as they had been in the hotel the same night as Mr Parsons.

Police approached the twins in January 2019 but were asked to leave the estate.

After McKellar's girlfriend contacted police in 2020, the brothers were arrested and a search of the area carried out.

The court heard that Mr Parsons, a married father of two, was 63 when he died.

He had close ties to the Tillicoultry community and was described as a loving husband, father, brother and grandfather, in victim impact statements supplied to the court.

The brothers will be sentenced on 25 August at the High Court in Glasgow.