A man has admitted killing a charity cyclist by crashing into him while drunk driving then abandoning him by the side of the road.
Alexander McKellar, 31, pleaded guilty to causing the death of Tony Parsons by hitting the 63-year-old with his vehicle on the A82 near Bridge of Orchy, Argyll and Bute, on September 29, 2017.
He struck the victim, who was cycling at the time with his Isuzu D-Max pick-up while drunk.
Mr McKellar and his brother then left Mr Parsons by the side of the road “in a remote location during the hours of darkness and in inclement weather”, causing his death.
He pled guilty to culpable homicide and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
Mr McKellar admitted driving on the A82 at “excess speed and when unfit through alcohol”.
He and his twin brother Robert McKellar both appeared in the dock at the High Court in Glasgow, where both also admitted a charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by burying Mr Parsons’ body.
While originally charged with murder, advocate depute Alex Prentice KC announced the charges against the two brothers had been amended.
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Mr Parsons, a former naval petty officer, was reported missing in 2017 while on a charity cycle from his home in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, to Fort William, Highlands.
His remains were discovered in January 2021 in a remote area of ground close to a farm near the A82.
The brothers pretended that damage caused to the vehicle that struck Mr Parsons had been caused by a collision with a deer.
Both admitted leaving the site where Mr Parsons had been struck and returning in another vehicle, into which they placed the cyclist along with his bicycle and other belongings.
They moved him to woods in Auch Estate, before then moving his body to another location which was used to dispose of dead animals.
There, they dug a grave and buried him, as well as disposing of his belongings.
His family were at the High Court in Glasgow to hear the guilty plea.
The pair will be sentenced on Friday.
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