Hit and run driver who killed cyclist spent a week trying to cover up crash

A driver who killed a cyclist spent a week trying to cover up the fatal crash – but has been spared jail by a judge.

Scott Walker, aged 43, died from “catastrophic” head injuries sustained when Ian McFarlane knocked him off his bike on the A917 Elie to St Monans Road in Fife on 8 July 2019, reports Courier.co.uk.

McFarlane, aged 76 and from Dundee, pleaded guilty last month at Dundee Sheriff Court to failure to stop and report the collision and to driving while uninsured, the only offences with which he was charged in connection with the fatal crash.

The court heard that the wing mirror of the car he was driving was found at the scene by police, who identified it as belonging to a Vauxhall Astra made between 2005 and 2009.

Extensive enquiries led officers to McFarlane’s estranged wife, in whose name the vehicle was registered. He had visited her immediately after the collision, but in the following days denied involvement in the crash.

Police discovered that he had visited two garages in the week after the incident to try and have the car’s damaged bodywork repaired and the wing mirror replaced.

When he was eventually tracked down by police, he claimed that he had intended to hand himself in the following day.

Sentencing McFarlane to 225 hours of unpaid work and banning him from driving for nine months, Sheriff Gregor Murray told him: "Extensive publicity was given to police efforts to trace you and your vehicle.

“You failed to contact the police. You implemented a scheme to prevent your identity being discovered. Only diligent police work enabled your identity to be revealed.

“The public requires to be protected from those who seek to interfere with the administration of justice. A custodial sentence would be wholly justified.

“The maximum period of imprisonment I can impose for the failure to stop is six months. That would not adequately reflect the gravity of the offence.

“I must take into account other factors. There is no suggestion the collision was as a result of the driving on your part.”

McFarlane expressed no remorse for his actions and failed to apologise to the victim's family.

After he was sentenced Mr Walker’s sister, Sharon Iddir, said: "We were let down in there. It's not what we were expecting and it's not what should have happened.

"He knew what he was doing. He has showed no remorse whatsoever," she added.