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00:04People go missing in the Highlands a lot for many different reasons.
00:10Usually they're found pretty soon.
00:13What was unusual was that he was not found.
00:18Mountain rescue teams are searching for a man...
00:20Tony Parsons was last seen late on the night...
00:22...at the Bridge de Bourque Hotel.
00:24He was taking part in a charity cycle ride.
00:26No trace was ever found of him or his bike.
00:29I kept thinking he would just walk in.
00:32I didn't want to think about it being bad.
00:36Where the hell are you? What has happened?
00:39Loads of questions, unanswered.
00:42Somewhere on that stretch of road...
00:44Tony Parsons vanished off the face of the earth.
00:46We spent three years coming to terms with the fact that my dad wasn't coming home.
00:52And then all of a sudden one phone call flipped everything upside down.
01:04There's a lot of detail in that initial call that starts to make you think this could actually be genuine.
01:14What's your name, please?
01:22What's your name, ma'am?
01:24Dr Caroline Newerhead.
01:26Our ex-partner had told her the biggest secret I have is that I've killed somebody.
01:30I can't believe it would be by casting a body.
01:33All the information tends to tie up.
01:36They need to be arrested.
01:37What can you tell me about your involvement in the disappearance of Anthony Parsons?
01:43But what's a crime going to be at this point?
01:45We don't have a body.
01:46We don't have a cause of death.
01:47We've only got the story that Caroline's told us.
01:50Robert, I'm bringing this interview to a conclusion, but the investigation is far from over.
01:57We need to act on this and we need to move it now.
01:59We need to go and find this body.
02:16The three years, not having my dad, not knowing where he is or what's happened, that literally eats you up
02:26from inside.
02:28Having to wait three years, three years of thinking, well, we're never going to find him again.
02:33We're never going to be able to grieve.
02:35I just got a phone call from a detective inspector asking to speak to me.
02:39We were told that credible intelligence had come in.
02:42We got informed that the police were going to be excavating a piece of land.
03:04Caroline had dropped a can of Red Bull marking that spot where Tony Parsons was buried.
03:13The Red Bull can was her starting point.
03:15But she had been given further specific information from Sandy that standing at that point, looking in a particular direction,
03:25looking at a landmark in that direction and a number of metres from that point, that is where he indicated
03:36it's where the body was.
03:37It was three years since this body had been buried there, so to the untrained eye, all the ground looked
03:44the same.
03:46The plan moving forward was a case of who do we need to help us here?
03:52External specialists, because we need people who can provide their expertise with ground conditions, who can assist us with digging
04:00and filtering through earth.
04:03And that's where Professor Lorna Dawson came in.
04:07All cases that you work on are special and distinctive and unique.
04:12But there is something about this particular investigation that will stay with me forever.
04:21I got a phone call from the SIO.
04:24They asked me if I could go along to the site and see if there were any clues with the
04:30soil or the vegetation.
04:31And whether there might be an area where someone might have been buried a few years ago.
04:39The location was remote.
04:42There was snow covering the mountains.
04:46And there were no sounds but the wild animals, the birds.
04:50And I think that's quite important because if someone was trying to dispose of a body, you could be there
04:57and no one would see you digging a grave.
05:04When you got there and you saw the red bull can, it was moorland, it was heath, heather.
05:11There was a track and either side of the track there were clumps of vegetation.
05:17But there was an area of about two metres by one metre.
05:20It had obviously been disturbed fairly recently because the soil was mixed up so that the dark, deep peat was
05:28exposed.
05:30And it had left an impervious surface. The water sat on that peat. And because it was so cold, ice
05:38had formed.
05:40That was unusual because it was the only bit that had ice and moss only. All the other areas had
05:48shrubs.
05:49It was her professional opinion. That's a deposition site there where Tony has potentially been put.
05:56You could see that something had gone on there.
05:57I thought it supported what the witness had told the police.
06:01That's the area that the excavation has to focus on.
06:07You know you're looking for somebody's loved one and they are relying on you for answers.
06:14It's a very heavy burden to carry.
06:19So there was quite a large team of experts required. Forensic archaeologists, they were able to very carefully skim off
06:29using tiny brushes and tiny spatulas.
06:33Layers, centimetres deep. And each of those layers could be carefully looked through just to make sure that we didn't
06:41lose any potential evidence.
06:43It was a very methodical, very structured event.
06:48But as we went down, I'll always remember the moment where we saw this little piece of red fabric.
06:56That was the colour of the fabric that Mr Parsons was wearing when he was last seen cycling home that
07:03day.
07:08I'm getting goosebumps down my back again here talking about it.
07:13Immediately everything was stopped and a phone call went in back to senior management.
07:16And we've got the sleeve of a red jacket here.
07:22Carefully the two anthropologists removed the peat from around Mr Parsons.
07:29And it is an image that will stay with me.
07:33Mr Parsons was about 50 centimetres down.
07:37It's quite a cold, constant temperature at that depth.
07:43The preservation of the cold, wet peat had kept Mr Parsons so well that he still looked like the images
07:56of him on the day that he disappeared.
08:00That was Tony. When I saw him face to face, that was Tony.
08:17You want to know the answers, but realistically, you don't.
08:24And it's not a case of that you're thinking about yourself.
08:27You suddenly become, how am I going to look after everybody else?
08:31When you're having to stand there and watch your mum absolutely break down, it's tough.
08:41It really is tough.
08:44They came out and they told me that they'd found Tony.
08:50Obviously my words were, are you sure?
08:53Are you sure?
08:54And they said yes.
09:03The injuries that Tony had were horrific.
09:10My mum was an absolute wreck.
09:14Because at that moment, all her hopes of ever having that possibility of seeing my dad again were just gone.
09:24There was nothing left.
09:28We had Mountain Rescue in with us to lift Tony's body.
09:34The weather was atrocious that day. It was very low cloud cover.
09:41We got everybody into position.
09:43Everyone had to be done right.
09:45And there was suddenly a shout.
09:47And it was the diggermen.
09:50Guys, stop. Look.
09:52Now, all morning, you couldn't see the hills surrounding you.
09:58And at that point in time, the cloud had lifted and we must have been surrounded by about 40 red
10:06deer.
10:11We are standing there, ready to lift Tony out of there, and these wild animals, they're just standing watching us.
10:19We all just took a breath, looked at each other, and then that was it.
10:23We lifted Tony up and out.
10:27It was quite a moment.
10:32We're all made up of molecules, these elements that make us our body.
10:37But there is the soul.
10:39It could have gone unsolved.
10:42It could have still been in that cold, dark place alone.
10:46Once you've put a loved one to rest, they are at rest and the family have somewhere to go and
10:51grieve.
10:56I didn't personally feel that bad about it.
11:01Because I'd expected it.
11:03I had been waiting three and a half years for that news.
11:08So it wasn't as big a shock.
11:11Being told that he was found buried.
11:16That made me feel physically sick.
11:19How?
11:21Why?
11:24Where Tony was recovered was an area where there was kill pits.
11:30It's where the farmer or the gamekeeper will dig a pit, basically, and dispose of fallen livestock.
11:38Anything that had been shot by sporting tourists, basically, on the estate that wasn't required for meat,
11:46was disposed of by the estate in this kill pit.
11:49The worst can't describe what would go through somebody's head to put another human being into that position.
12:00They're horrible.
12:08The family of a grandad whose remains were found in Argyle more than three years after he went missing say
12:14they'd been left devastated by his death.
12:17We didn't know the details.
12:21A lot of it was kept from us, obviously, because it was an ongoing investigation.
12:27The recovery of the remains is a massive, massive moment in the investigation.
12:32But for us, it's literally just the start.
12:36The end goal for us is to find the evidence to convict Sandy and Robert for whatever's happened here.
12:53There are two different perspectives on this story.
12:56You've got the inner one.
12:58The people at the centre of this criminal investigation know what happened.
13:02The police are figuring it out.
13:05And then outside that, you've got the rest of us.
13:11And as a reporter, our job is to try to get the inside story and bring it out.
13:18Why haven't these two men been charged?
13:22Why are they back out into their communities?
13:25What's going on?
13:30The boys went to school here.
13:33They had a huge group of friends here.
13:35Everybody knew them.
13:36People knew their parents.
13:38No one could quite believe the calculated way in which this appeared to be unfolding at that time.
13:45That not only had this poor man been killed, but he had also been killed in a way where his
13:53body was hidden.
13:57If you were to tell this story to anybody who doesn't work in our field of work,
14:02you would probably think, well, he's told his girlfriend that this is where the body is.
14:07She's told the police and lo and behold, the police have dug in that location and found the body.
14:12But we can't just jump to the conclusion that because he told Caroline that it was him and his brother
14:16who were responsible for this,
14:18then that must be true. Other people could be involved here.
14:21At that point, it becomes a whole new dynamic of investigation.
14:23Don't bury yourself in a peat bog, so we know we're dealing with criminality.
14:27It's just exactly what crimes do we have, what we're looking to prove, what we're looking to show.
14:38There wasn't any DNA found on any of the clothing or on the body itself to link it back to
14:43the people responsible.
14:45We've got a story, but we don't have a case. We've got to find evidence that links them to this
14:50crime.
14:53The car Sandy had been driving that night had been seized, but then we were able to do quite a
14:58lot of inquiry round about it.
15:00And we were able to actually, believe it or not, track back and we were able to show that that
15:07car did have damage on the night that Anthony Parsons went missing.
15:13Other people who worked in the Orca Estate were able to see the significant damage to the car before it
15:19was taken away to be repaired.
15:21Sandy and Robert had given the explanation that they struck a deer that night.
15:26And that was really significant because we were able to establish that every time that car had been damaged previously,
15:35through the insurance, it had went to a specific garage to be repaired.
15:39On this occasion, the vehicle didn't go to that place. There was no report to the insurance.
15:46That was really, really interesting because if you had just struck a deer, why would you not claim your insurance?
15:52Not only that, the place the vehicle had been taken to for repair was miles away.
15:57Actually, the garage owner still had images.
16:02That car did have near-side damage to it, which would be consistent of where they would have struck a
16:07cyclist.
16:09It just adds another wee piece to the puzzle and another wee piece of evidence required to convict these individuals.
16:19When my dad was found, we found out at that point that it was potentially a road accident and that
16:25my dad had been struck.
16:26One of the hardest things going through all of this was the fact that we didn't know the details.
16:33Because of our profession, my brother and I, being in the police, we also knew, don't ask questions.
16:50When the inquiry seized their mobile phones, we could see the conversations that were going on between the brothers and
17:02other people.
17:04We then found a video. You could see the dashboard, the cockpit of a 4x4 truck.
17:11And it was on that stretch of road, heading between the bridge of Orkey to Tyndrum.
17:18And you saw a hand lifting up a can of tenants, shouting cheers and laughing.
17:23And I remember myself and my colleague that were looking at the phones, we couldn't believe what we were seeing
17:27in front of us.
17:28This is a joke to them. Quite sickening, to be honest with you.
17:31There was also text messages and social media comments that tended to suggest other people knew more about the circumstances
17:39than they were telling us.
17:41One person said, I think about this all the time. I'm relatively local and we've known who did it for
17:48ages.
17:49They were drunk driving, hit Tony and buried his body on their property.
17:54Someone tipped off the police, hence them searching and finding the body.
18:00So it suggests that there was a lot of local knowledge.
18:05Whilst all of this was ongoing, the relationship between Caroline and Sandy continued.
18:11I think Caroline thought that she had to try and get more evidence for us.
18:15As part of that, she would re-engage with Sandy.
18:18She was so involved with wanting to help.
18:21Obviously, first and foremost, we were just really concerned about her and her safety.
18:24But she supplied us with her phone and supplied us with recordings which were entered as part of the evidence.
18:32She talks at one point and Robert definitely told her that when they got out of the car, there was
18:38a moan coming from the body and he was obviously still alive.
18:42That then tied in with the information we received from the expert pathologist.
18:51It was quite upsetting pathology results because there probably could have been a period of up to half an hour
18:57for which he would have been alive after the point of impact.
19:01The last thing you want to think is that that was somebody's last half hour.
19:05He would have known he was dying and he would have known he was in the middle of nowhere and
19:09he would have known there wasn't help coming.
19:10And that's really sad.
19:12At the point in time when they have realised that he is at the side of the road and is
19:18still alive, a reasonable person would be making a decision to get somebody help.
19:23To see if he had just phoned 999 and held his hand and told him it was going to be
19:26okay in that last half hour, well, you know, that's what most people would do.
19:31Tony may have died anyway, but they had decided he was definitely going to die and this was crucial in
19:38determining what charges would be relevant.
19:51The first question for the prosecution service is whether a crime has been committed.
19:56Now when human remains are found in a remote area, buried in a peat bog, that obviously gives rise to
20:04the likelihood that a criminal act has been committed.
20:08The next challenge was to decide what the nature of that crime was.
20:13Murder in Scotland can be committed in one of two ways, one with a wicked intention to kill.
20:19The person that shoots someone else dead without any justification would be guilty of murder and there's no difficulty with
20:26that.
20:26Equally, if the attacker demonstrates such wicked recklessness as to demonstrate that he does not care whether the victim lives
20:36or dies, then that can amount to murder too.
20:39Robert and Sandy did not set out to kill Tony Parsons.
20:44But when they've struck him with a vehicle, if the evidence suggests he was still alive at that point, they
20:50can look at the state of Tony at that point in time and maybe reach the conclusion in their mind,
20:55it's unlikely he'll survive.
20:57But if you're not medically qualified, how can you make that decision?
21:01This was not straightforward. If Mr. Parsons was killed instantly, then the charge would probably have simply been causing death
21:10by dangerous driving because there's no suggestion that the accused set out to kill Mr. Parsons.
21:17The difference with this case was that knowing he was alive after the collision, they decided not to recruit help
21:25for him.
21:26They have formed a plan in their mind to put him into the ground and conceal this fact forever. It's
21:33a sliding doors moment and that's where the murderous intent comes in.
21:39It seemed to me that an argument could be made out for murder.
21:57You're not bound to answer, but if you do, your answers will be recorded and may be noted and may
22:01be used in evidence. Do you understand?
22:03I do, yes.
22:04The time is 15.08 hours on Tuesday 1st December 2021.
22:09At this time we're going to interview room number 4 at London Road Police Office.
22:14Yep.
22:15Can you confirm your name?
22:17It's Alexander Gardner McKaylor.
22:19Your age?
22:19It's 29.
22:21Can I ask you your name please?
22:23Yeah, Robert McKaylor.
22:24And your age, please Robert.
22:26This is 11 months down the line from the first arrest.
22:29On this occasion the two twins were arrested that morning for murder.
22:36When we first spoke to them we had a lot more limited information, but much further down the line we
22:41obviously had a full case built against them.
22:43So it was to bring them in and put all the evidence that we had to them to see if
22:47they would provide us with what had happened in their own words
22:50or if they would tell us how they could live so long without telling anyone what Tony was.
22:54You're now going to be asked questions about your involvement in the murder of Anthony Parsons in attempting to defeat
22:59the course of justice.
23:00You're not bound to answer, but if you do, your answers will be recorded and may be noted and may
23:05be used in evidence.
23:06Do you understand?
23:07I do, yes.
23:07Okay.
23:08They probably both spent those 11 months wondering when we're coming back.
23:12And I think there maybe was a little bit of thinking they'll maybe never charge us with us or they'll
23:16never prove it happened.
23:19I think by the time they come to these interviews 11 months later they're probably a lot more worried about
23:23what's going to be presented to them
23:25and Sandy certainly doesn't look as polished. He looks like a man that's had a really tough 11 months.
23:32He doesn't have the same confidence.
23:35He's got the crossed arms, hands right in close to, a torso on his chest and you can tell he's
23:41really, really uncomfortable here,
23:42which is different from how he was before.
23:45You know who that is?
23:48Just look at that picture and think what you did to him.
23:52He's family.
23:56Can you see the photo?
23:58Mm-hmm.
23:59Can you see the man?
24:04The man that's got a family, that's got a wife, that's got kids.
24:09It's not just a photo, it was a person that had that life.
24:12Of course.
24:13But your actions, albeit if you had been knocked off a bike, your actions could have kept that man alive
24:19and you chose not to.
24:23Because your need was greater than his.
24:28And that family behind that picture have waited three years to get an answer.
24:33Over three years, they're now nearly on four years to get an answer to what happened to their dad.
24:40I understand that.
24:42Do you?
24:43Mm-hmm.
24:44What's your understanding of that?
24:47I don't know.
24:51Do you genuinely have no remorse that you've killed a man in bed and leaving his family without any idea
24:56where he was for three years?
24:57No, come on.
24:59I don't think at any point you have an understanding of that.
25:06I think you just see a picture on there and you don't see anything behind it.
25:09There's nothing else inside the person you are.
25:14Are they correct?
25:16No problem.
25:19One of the things from Robert's interview is the work we go into round about the truck.
25:24I think there's almost like that belief where people don't think you're going to quite dig as much as you
25:29do dig.
25:30Did Robert speak?
25:32No, he didn't.
25:33He never gave us anything significant and neither did Sandy, to be honest with you.
25:40The only real reaction from Sandy during the interview was when the recordings were played.
25:44The recordings that we had retrieved from Caroline Muirhead.
25:48We seized our laptop, which was later examined.
25:51We won the laptop with several recordings, including a conversation between you and her
25:56in the morning of the 24th of February 2021.
26:00So that's going to be one of the hotel clubs out here.
26:15In all conversations, no ones do you deny being responsible.
26:19Why not if you don't listen?
26:21No problem.
26:22You state it was either in my life or his. What did you mean by that?
26:27It doesn't sound like you, to be honest. It sounds like it's been an escort.
26:32It's enhanced.
26:33He wasn't happy to accept that it was him.
26:36It's silly on me that's had that conversation.
26:39The enhancement's went to forensic law. It's all been checked.
26:42I can't explain it, sorry.
26:45To actually hear a recorded conversation, that's probably why he's reacted to that at that point,
26:51when it's actually been put in front of him and he knows it's real.
26:54We continue, fucking stupid cunt, shouldn't have been there.
26:58Zero remorse for Mr. Parsons or his family.
27:02Have you no regrets about what we've done?
27:04Knock on it.
27:06When you've been immersed in an inquiry like that for 11 months, when you reach the stage
27:11whereby you know you're going to get it over the line and you're going to get a conclusion
27:14to your investigation, there's a sense of satisfaction.
27:18Terminating the interview with Alexander McCaylor within one demo police station.
27:23From the 11 months between first interview and second interview, Robert and Sandy were very
27:27much out in the community, still living lives. But from this date, we're pretty confident
27:32that they've been demanded.
27:34Okay, the time is now 18.55. Well, it's now concluding the interview with Robert McCaylor.
27:40Ultimately, that's what you've spent a year working on. That's what the long nights or the time away
27:44for your family is all about, just trying to get to that point. So it's a really, really satisfying moment.
27:49It's probably one of the best parts of the job, when you're able to charge somebody with a serious crime.
27:59Both were charged with murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice in terms of
28:05disposing of the body afterwards in the manner in which they did.
28:20Once McCaylor twins had been charged with murder, the family of Tony Parsons have to be advised
28:27that opens a lot of questions and thoughts.
28:35It's strange to think murder and being told that someone's being charged with murder of my dad
28:44because we don't know how, what happened.
28:49They're thinking, if it's murder, it must be deliberate. They must have deliberately killed him.
28:54So have they deliberately ran him off the road? Has there been a fight or disturbance beforehand?
29:01We were asking all the questions and still getting told, no, it's an ongoing investigation.
29:08Which I totally understand, totally get. But again, it fills your head with even more scenarios.
29:25I was asked to represent the interests of Alexander Sandy McKellar.
29:29I saw him in prison where he had been remanded at that stage.
29:37I thought it would resolve by way perhaps of a plea causing death by dangerous driving
29:43and also a very serious attempt to prevent the course of justice.
29:48Because the body had been effectively hidden for a period of around about three years.
30:07The Crown had made a decision that they were going to indict both brothers for murder.
30:16It wasn't an obvious murder to me.
30:19The Crown case was that their actings were wickedly reckless and therefore they were guilty of murder.
30:26On that occasion, the first accused offered to plead guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
30:33There was no dispute about the fact that Sandy was the driver.
30:36And so that was submitted. The Crown did not indicate they were going to accept that.
30:42I rejected that plea. I did not think that that was adequate in the whole circumstances of the case.
30:57The trial was actually set at the High Court in Glasgow.
31:02It's obviously the highest court in the land.
31:04It's a very significant high profile case.
31:07There's a lot of media interest.
31:09And that was obviously increasing as the trial was approaching
31:12when all the intricacies of the story would have come out.
31:24It's difficult to imagine the agony that the family went through
31:28in not knowing where Mr. Parsons was and what happened to him.
31:33That just compounded as time went on.
31:37My task is to present the evidence openly and fairly,
31:41but the jury will be told that sympathy plays no part in this
31:45and neither does morals because it's a court of law and not a court of morals.
31:55When the McKellar brothers first came up into the dock and they took their seat,
32:02I watched their every move.
32:04I wanted to know whether or not they were going to look at us.
32:07They didn't.
32:09Stern kept looking straight at the head.
32:13And all I wanted to do was to say to them,
32:16why?
32:22As a family, we've had nothing from them.
32:27When you've done that, the impact that that has had, the ripple effect of that night,
32:33has impacted me, my sister, my mum, my children, you know, my dad's friends.
32:42There was a group of us went through to the trial and we sat not far,
32:47two or three rows behind them and we were watching them.
32:50They came in all clean shaven, wearing suits, trying to look respectable and everything else.
32:55But you could tell it was pure arrogance.
32:59I knew I couldn't approach them.
33:02But I just wanted to see them react.
33:06I wanted to know what was going through their mind.
33:13The evidence was that Mr. Parsons was alive after the collision and that the accused knew that.
33:19But it was not a straightforward case by any means and it would be difficult to present to the jury.
33:25Call the Diet. His Majesty's advocate against Alexander McKaylor and Robert McKaylor, please be seated.
33:33I have a deputy.
33:34Thank you, my lord.
33:35I regret that I move that the case be adjourned until tomorrow morning.
33:39Very well, thank you.
33:45The Crown were having difficulties in citing Caroline to appear for the trial.
33:50Caroline was the key to this in terms of the evidence that she had gathered.
33:54through the course of her relationship with Sandy and the manner in which she had been assisting the police investigation.
34:01So there was a bit of anxiety as to how things would go at the trial in relation to Caroline
34:07providing her evidence.
34:21The second day is the day when the jury turns up and actually are put into the jury box and
34:26so on.
34:28Caroline had been cited to attend and she hadn't turned up.
34:40The trial was underway and I actually got a phone call from the brother's father to say, Caroline's here, she's
34:50on the estate.
34:53I said, what do you mean she's on the estate? I knew that that was the day that she had
34:57to go to court to give evidence.
34:59To pin your murder charge on that particular witness was a wee bit of a surprise to me, I think.
35:09They last saw her heading up into the valley towards Loch Lyon.
35:14I let my supervisors know immediately. You'd better phone the Crown. Caroline is nowhere near Glasgow High Court.
35:22She was effectively missing and clearly everybody was concerned about what had happened to her, where she was.
35:30It just so happened that one of the gamekeepers and an officer were going up this side of the law
35:34and Caroline was found.
35:39In these circumstances, I invite his Lordship to adjourn until tomorrow morning.
35:44Well in the whole circumstances, I'm inclined to grant the motion.
35:49We'll adjourn until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning and we will assess the situation at that point.
36:00She was clearly struggling to deal with the circumstances on that particular day.
36:05This case has been different. Every single hour of every single day I've worked on it.
36:10Right to the end and during the trial, it was a pretty unique set of circumstances.
36:32We thought the two of them were going to be charged with murder.
36:35But I think it was day three.
36:38I just felt that something weren't right here.
36:45You know, I just had that feeling.
36:48I've got depured.
36:49Thank you my Lord.
36:50My Lord, I'm grateful for the extra time afforded today.
36:54And I can advise that there has been a development in the case.
36:58And I would propose to amend the indictment.
37:03Recognising that approving the murder charge was not going to be straightforward,
37:08it did seem to me that a charge of culpable homicide would be sufficient in the circumstances of this case.
37:14My Lord, in relation to charge number one in line 11,
37:20to delete the word murder and substitute the word kill.
37:32No, Mr McConaughey.
37:34Yes, ma'am. I have instructions to tender a plea of guilty to charge one,
37:41which is, as your Lordship is aware, now a charge of culpable homicide.
37:45And that was then accepted with the result that the case did not go to a jury as a trial,
37:51but was a guilty plea.
37:54Okay, my Lord, those pleas are acceptable to the Crown.
38:02The difference between a conviction for murder and a conviction for culpable homicide is huge.
38:12And also the fact that Sandy's brother would no longer be on the homicide charge.
38:16They were two very important factors.
38:19It probably wasn't a particularly difficult decision for Sandy to make,
38:24even although he knew the outcome would be he would get a significant custodial sentence.
38:30A change of plea by the accused is not an unusual thing.
38:33We do strive to try and avoid that happening at the trial.
38:37It's unfortunate that it happens at that late stage, but it does happen.
38:41Well, I can see why it happened, because if you went for murder and you couldn't prove it,
38:45then there's a chance they would get enough.
38:49Don't make it right.
38:50Don't make it right.
38:52When we found out that the McKellars had made a plea.
38:58That didn't sit well with me, my initial thought was,
39:04they're going to go down, and they're taking the truth with them.
39:09So by playing not only have they robbed me of my father, but they've robbed me of knowing the truth.
39:16When I move for sentence, his lordship will see that the previous convictions for Alexander
39:25McKellar are dangerous driving, driving with an excess of alcohol, and in 2012 he was convicted
39:35of careless driving.
39:38My lord, I would propose that the Crown and Defence prepare an agreed narrative because
39:46the case is fairly complex and there's quite a bit to say.
39:51There would be insufficient time to conclude that today.
39:55Thank you very much.
39:58Lord!
40:01When they get out of jail, they're going to go back to life as if nothing's happened.
40:06They're going to get on with it, they're going to enjoy themselves.
40:09I can't do that.
40:12I can't do that because Tony's not here.
40:16They're not the one that I left with a life sentence.
40:23I am.
40:25Because that's what they've done.
40:37My lord, this case commenced as a missing person inquiry before evolving into an investigation.
40:48Around July 2017, Anthony Parsons decided to engage in a cycle from Fort William to his
40:56home address in Tilakoutri.
40:58His wife, Margaret Parsons, received text messages from his mobile asking how she was and confirming
41:05that he had arrived in Fort William.
41:09This was the last contact she had with her husband.
41:13Around 2300 hours, Mr Parsons attended at the Bridge of Orkey Hotel.
41:18He was wet due to the adverse weather.
41:21It was suggested to him that he should stay the night in the hotel.
41:25However, after having a coffee, he left the hotel to continue his cycle and travelled south
41:31on his intended route.
41:34You could see him shaking his head with what was being said.
41:36I know, man.
41:37It was really, really difficult to watch that.
41:40My lord, so far as the accused are concerned, the accused, Alexander McKellar, after consuming
41:47alcohol, drove with Robert McKellar as a passenger on a journey from the Bridge of Orkey Hotel to
41:55their home on the Orkey Estate a few miles away.
41:59During the journey, in adverse weather conditions, at night and at speed, the vehicle collided
42:08with Anthony Parsons, who was, at the time, riding his bicycle.
42:15After seriously injuring Anthony Parsons, Alexander McKellar ascertained that Mr Parsons was still
42:23alive.
42:26He did not call the emergency services, thereby preventing any prospect of Mr Parsons receiving
42:35medical treatment.
42:36a patient.
42:37He will have been in massive amounts of pain.
42:40So then to not seek any form of medical treatment from that is just 100% inhumane.
42:48It was horrible to hear what they had done.
42:51And I'm not talking about the fact that they knocked him off his bike with the car.
42:55It's what they did after.
43:03Without immediate medical assistance, he would have been unlikely to survive longer than 20
43:09to 30 minutes.
43:10Police inquiry confirmed that the quickest emergency medical response would have taken approximately
43:17one hour if any assistance had been sought.
43:21The outcome of what would have happened, how long it would have taken an ambulance to get
43:25there, is irrelevant.
43:26If you know that you've hit somebody, you can see that they are still alive.
43:30Any basic human instinct says you need to try and get help.
43:35They just wanted to protect themselves.
43:39They could have phoned for somebody.
43:41They could have phoned an ambulance.
43:42They could have phoned the police.
43:43They could have even done it anonymously, but they didn't.
43:48The two accused left the scene in the vehicle and returned in a different vehicle, collected
43:53Mr Parson's body and bicycle and transported him to the Auch Estate whereby they left him overnight.
44:01After attending with a shooting party the next day, the body was taken to a peaty area
44:07on the estate, a grave was dug and the body placed in it and covered.
44:14I do remember the full story being read out in court line by line and it really was, it
44:19was a real shock.
44:21What they did was callous.
44:24That's not actions of a drunken man, not the day after.
44:27This is the actions of somebody who's trying to cover up a crime.
44:30To willingly go down a course of action whereby you are letting somebody die, that to me is
44:37murder.
44:38And our opinion will always be the same.
44:41They have murdered my dad and they have taken him away from us.
44:45Such was the location that if Alexander McKellar had not disclosed where the grave was, the
44:52remains are unlikely to have ever been found.
44:57And my lord, there is a drive-through on the estate.
44:59I am not going to pay all of it but I will demonstrate the deposition area so his lordship
45:06will get an idea of how remote this area is.
45:12They took Tony, they buried him.
45:16They left me for three and a half years and my kids and grown kids.
45:24Not knowing where Tony was.
45:26And this is the deposition site just to the right of the roadway.
45:30The peat bog area is utilised by state employees, including the accused Robert and Alexander
45:37McKellar, to routinely dispose of animal carcasses.
45:42This was evident on initial observation by police officers due to openly visible animal bones.
45:50Between the 13th and 14th of January 2021, the body of Mr Parsons was exposed and with great
45:57care recovered from within the grave.
46:01How on earth can anybody, with any iota of goodness in them, how could they do that?
46:06How on earth could they live without knowing a poor Tony was buried, so probably not very
46:12far from the front door?
46:13Anthony Parsons was 63 at the time of his death.
46:17He was a much-loved husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend.
46:23He had very close community ties.
46:27My lord, those are the submissions for the crown.
46:31Robert McKellar and Alexander McKellar, please stand.
46:34You will next appear before me for the matter of sentence.
46:38You will continue to be detained.
46:39That's all.
46:44There's been no remorse.
46:48Absolutely nothing from them at all.
46:51To be honest, I hate the both of them.
46:55I really do.
46:57I'm still angry.
46:59I'm sorry.
47:00It won't go away.
47:02I see.
47:11Oh, my God.
47:39Call the diet adjourned out for sentence.
47:41His Majesty's advocate against Alexander McKellar and Robert Keller.
47:45Please be seated, thank you.
47:47Mr McCorrekey.
47:49On board.
47:51Mr McKellar is well aware of the family's views
47:57and knows and understands that there is no apology
48:01which he can tender,
48:03which will ever be acceptable to them.
48:08But nonetheless, he wishes me on his behalf
48:12to indicate that he deeply regrets the trauma
48:16that he put the family through.
48:19On the night of the 29th of September 2017,
48:25it is fully accepted by him
48:28he ought not to have been driving.
48:31By his plea, he accepts that whilst catastrophically injured,
48:36Mr Parsons was alive at the time.
48:39Mr McKellar accepts he did not call for assistance.
48:44The only explanation which he offers
48:50and the only explanation which perhaps makes sense
48:53is simply fear and panic.
48:57Fear for himself and panic for the situation he found himself in.
49:03His conduct thereafter became something of a runaway train.
49:09Using his words, he says he was too much of a coward to come clean.
49:15He sought solace in alcohol and much more significant abuse of cocaine.
49:22Mr McKellar found what he had done more and more difficult to live with.
49:29And on two separate occasions,
49:32he came close to ending his own life.
49:37On one occasion, he drove to a remote part of the estate
49:41and had a loaded rifle in his mouth
49:44but didn't pull the trigger.
49:48In 2020, when he met Caroline
49:54and she went to the police,
49:57he fully accepts that ultimately
50:01she made the right decision in doing so.
50:03The finding of Mr Parsons' body
50:10and the fact that these proceedings are now coming to an end
50:15to some extent
50:17has meant that there is a very significant weight
50:22being lifted from him.
50:27He would do anything he could
50:29to have the chance to alter the decision he took
50:31on the 29th of September
50:34but he can't rewind the clock.
50:38If you have done something
50:40and you're not a psychopath,
50:42which I've got no reason to believe that they're psychopaths,
50:45then it is always going to play in your mind.
50:47And I think the older you get,
50:49the more you realise
50:50that you have to face up to
50:53the terrible things that you may or may not have done in life.
50:56There must have been a sense of relief
50:58that, right, OK, this is happening.
51:01They were going to have to face the consequences
51:04of what happened that night.
51:07I've never seen any remorse from Sandy.
51:10If other people have got a sense that he was remorseful,
51:13then fair enough, but it's not anything I ever witnessed.
51:17During police interactions with Robert,
51:19I didn't really get any real sense of remorse from him either.
51:23Robert McKellar became involved out of a misplaced sense of loyalty to his brother.
51:30He made a very significant error of judgment to support his brother
51:35at a point in his life
51:37where he already feared that his family was breaking up.
51:42However, that decision having been made,
51:45he accepts that he then participated fully
51:49in what was clearly a sustained and determined effort
51:52to conceal the truth of his brother's crime.
51:56And in so doing, he undoubtedly caused
51:59Mr. Parsons' family and friends
52:01immeasurable pain and suffering.
52:04It really just seemed that they didn't treat Tony Parsons any differently
52:10to how they dealt with the carcasses of the animals they killed
52:15when they were in their hunting parties.
52:17In my submission, it is fair to say that Robert McKellar
52:21bitterly regrets his callous and cowardly actions.
52:26He would like the opportunity to communicate directly with Mr. Parsons' family
52:33in order to apologise for his actions.
52:37But he too is aware of and respects the views of Mr. Parsons' family.
52:45These two individuals have sat in a courtroom
52:48listening to all this, listening to all this evidence.
52:51And are you only sorry because you've been caught?
52:55I don't know.
52:58I really don't know.
53:01Mr. McKellar appreciates the awfulness of prison.
53:05He is witness to it every day
53:07and is kept awake most nights by prisoners in distress,
53:12screaming and banging on the walls.
53:15But he understands and accepts why he is in prison.
53:20That's not comfort for the family of the victim,
53:22or his friends.
53:23It is either.
53:24It's not comfort for any of us.
53:25Very well.
53:26Alexander McKellar and Robert McKellar, please stand.
53:33You have pleaded guilty to grave and serious crimes.
53:37I have no doubt that Mr. Parsons' family
53:40have been deeply affected by this.
53:42I have read and noted the terms of three victim impact statements
53:47made by members of his family.
53:49Their terms clearly indicate the profound, devastating,
53:54and continuing impact,
53:56the lasting effect of which may be incalculable.
54:00Nothing I can say or do can compensate for their loss,
54:02and I suspect that no sentence would ever be regarded
54:06as sufficient in their eyes.
54:09Alexander McKellar, I will impose on you a single sentence
54:12of imprisonment of 12 years.
54:15Robert McKellar, the sentence which I now impose on you
54:19is one of a period of imprisonment of five years and three months.
54:23That is all.
54:31I guess on reflection for me, that is a fair result.
54:35I've still been convicted of serious and significant crimes.
54:39We've provided answers to the family of Tony
54:41and we've managed to bring justice.
54:45A drink driver who hit and killed a cyclist
54:48has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
54:51So, have we achieved our objective
54:53in relation to this investigation? Absolutely.
54:56This is an extraordinary, heartbreaking tale.
55:00Twin brothers Alexander and Robert McKellar sobbed
55:03as they were sentenced at Glasgow High Court this morning.
55:07For me, it had to be murder.
55:08I absolutely felt that the whole story
55:10should have been told in court in front of the jury
55:12because if they heard the whole thing,
55:15then there's no way those guys would have got away with it.
55:18Which I believe they did.
55:19With the court, the sentences they got,
55:22they definitely got away with it.
55:23Pain and grief seemed to show on the faces of Tony Parson's family
55:28as they left court.
55:38You never thought for one moment that it would be six years until we got justice.
55:44Nobody can try and fathom out how long that six years was.
55:52How hard, how traumatising it is.
55:58I don't have any hatred towards these individuals.
56:05Because of my work experience, I've seen these things happen in other scenarios.
56:11And I'm fully aware they have family as well
56:14that will be going through stresses and things like that.
56:19I just wish it had never happened.
56:26I love Tony because he...
56:29He was kind.
56:33He made me happy.
56:34He's looked after me all these years.
56:38And I'm lost.
56:41Without Tony.
56:48I am making new memories with my grandkids, my son and my daughter.
56:54But it still hurts that Tony's not here to see it.
57:03It's getting to the stage where I can see things finally coming to a close.
57:08I can see us finally starting to move on.
57:13Can't wait for the day where we do actually get together as a family and go,
57:19We've done him proud.
57:21We brought him home.
57:23And that's where he should be.
58:15Well, I can't wait for twoЛs.
58:16I want to explain to you all the stuff.
58:16I'm proud of you, across the looseadan Corps.
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