The family of a Scots charity cyclist killed by a drink-driver who later returned to conceal his body have been award a six-figure compensation payout.
Grandad Tony Parsons was hit by a speeding car driven by drunk Alexander McKellar on the A82 near Bridge of Orchy, Argyll and Bute.
The 63-year-old was killed while undertaking a 100-mile charity ride from his home in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, to Fort William on September 29, 2017.
After hitting Mr Parsons, evil McKellar and his twin brother, Robert, went on to return to the scene and moved Mr Parsons’ body to the Auch Estate where they buried him with an excavator in a peat bog where animal carcasses were disposed of.
Tony was registered as a missing person and his remains were undiscovered for more than three years.
His widow Margaret and children Mike and Victoria launched a civil action into his death which was settled the day before a trial was due to begin at the Court of Session.
Lawyer Gordon Dalyell of Digby Brown Solicitors said: “While compensation does not, in any way, heal the pain, it does help protect the futures of his relatives.”
Almost four years after Tony’s disappearance, a major investigation was launched by police when officers received a tip-off from a woman McKellar had begun a relationship with in 2020.
She had asked him if there was anything from his past that may affect their relationship, and he told her he had hit Mr Parsons with an Isuzu D-Max pick-up while speeding.
He had said to the woman that he had been “distracted” by headlights and struck something on the side of the A82, which turned out to be Mr Parsons.
McKellar took the woman to the burial site, where she marked it with a can of Red Bull.
The two men were arrested on December 20, 2020, and Mr Parsons’ body was recovered for forensic investigation in January 2021.
The twins admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice when the case called at the High Court in Glasgow in July 2023.
Alexander McKellar admitted driving on the A82 at “excess speed and when unfit through alcohol”. With “reckless disregard” for the consequences of his actions, he left former Royal Navy submariner Mr Parsons by the side of the road “in a remote location during the hours of darkness and in inclement weather”, causing his death.
His defence lawyer Brian McConnachie KC said McKellar had suffered mental health issues as a result of his actions and that he acted out of “fear and panic”.
John Scullion KC, representing Robert McKellar, said he had become involved out of a “misplaced loyalty” to his brother.
Alexander McKellar was sentenced to 12 years behind bars and Robert McKellar was jailed for five years and three months.
At the time, Mr Parsons family: “As you can imagine, not knowing what has happened to someone and then the devastating news that we were provided has taken its toll on all of us as a family.
“At last justice has been done.”
They later launched the civil against Alexander McKellar which will be paid by the insurer of the vehicle he used at the time of Mr Parson’s death.
The family lawyer Mr Dalyell, added: “The manner of Tony’s death and what happened subsequently was appalling and the pain of his loss understandably continues to cause huge distress to his loved ones.
“I commend the strength of the Parsons family throughout this whole period as they try to move on with their lives.”
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