Overview

• Dr Caroline Muirhead says stress over the BBC’s two-part documentary caused her mental breakdown and led her to withdraw as a key prosecution witness.
• The BBC issued an official statement denying any impact on court proceedings, insisting Muirhead’s testimony was neither filmed nor recorded.
• Scottish Conservative figures, including Russell Findlay, have called on the BBC to explain whether documentary practices influenced prosecutors to accept reduced charges.
• Alexander and Robert McKellar pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and perverting the course of justice in August 2023 and received 12- and five-year sentences with parole eligibility after serving half their terms.
• Tony Parsons’s family maintains that the plea deal, influenced by the witness withdrawal, has denied them full truth and closure in the pursuit of a murder conviction.