A RETIRED policeman and a construction worker were killed in a two-car smash on one of the north’s busiest roads at the weekend.
The crash involving a Peugeot 307 and a Renault Laguna left the A82 Inverness-Fort William road blocked for several hours.
The men who died were named by police last night as former detective constable David McCook, 53, and Steven Lauder, 48. The accident happened at the Brackletter Junction, near Spean Bridge. Both men were driving their vehicles and both died at the scene.
Last night, grieving relatives of Mr McCook, of Caol, and Mr Lauder, of Spean Bridge, paid tribute to them. The fire service said the men were in separate cars, one with three other passengers.
Four crews went to the crash scene – two from Fort William, one from Fort Augustus and one from Inverness – and used cutting gear to free one of the casualties from the wreckage.
Mr McCook, a married father-of-three, was a police officer for three decades and received medals for his long service.
He also was awarded a certificate of commendation, along with fellow detective constables Joan MacKay and Billy Kinnear, for an investigation leading to the arrest of a dangerous sex offender within 40 minutes of his horrific rape attempt being reported.
Mr McCook is survived by his wife, Angie, daughters Becky and Rachael Elsie and son Jonathan.
Rachael paid tribute to her father on a social networking site yesterday and said she was “completely devastated” by his death.
She added that she was “overwhelmed” by the kind words and support shown to her and her family and said she was “so proud” to have had him as her father.
She added: “We are all so touched by the sheer amount of people whose lives were touched by such a wonderful man and a true gent. I’m speechless and completely devastated.”
Relatives of Mr Lauder described him as a “total gentleman”.
His parents, Jock and Maureen, of Inverness, were being comforted by family in Fort William yesterday. Relative Nicole Lauder posted a tribute on a social networking site: “He was a total gentleman, such a great guy with an amazing personality. He was loved by so many people and all of us will miss him so much.”
Mr Lauder is understood to have worked for Fort William-based Corrie Construction and been employed in helping to instal the new high voltage Beauly-Denny powerline.
Former work colleague Edward Gall, of Fort William, wrote: “My thoughts are with the Lauder family. I worked with Steven for a year and he was a great guy and will be sadly missed.”
Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash, which happened shortly before noon on Saturday, to contact them.
A force spokesman said: “Police Scotland would like any person with information to contact them, especially anyone who may have seen a northbound silver Peugeot 307 or southbound grey Renault Laguna at the relevant time.”
The road was closed for several hours while officers from the road policing unit investigated the accident.
A diversion was put in place for cars on the B8004 Gairlochy to Banavie road.
Anyone with information about the crash has been urged to contact police on the 101 non-emergency number.
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