South Australia's notorious "Bicycle Bandit" has ended his life, two days after being sentenced to at least 28 years in prison for his decade-long reign of terror over banks.
Kym Allen Parsons, 73, died at a palliative care facility adjacent to Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide on Wednesday.
The terminally ill violent criminal legally ended his life with an SA Health-approved voluntary assisted dying kit
A spokesperson for the Department for Correctional Services said: “It can be confirmed that there was a death in DCS custody on Wednesday 26 June at approximately 12.15pm.”
Parsons appeared via video link from the Adelaide Remand Centre for sentencing on Monday, a week after he pleaded guilty to 10 robberies and one attempted robbery, apologised to his victims in court and promised to repay the stolen money.
Justice Sandi McDonald acknowledged there was an "air of artificiality" about the 85-year prison term she imposed, which was reduced to 35 years with a non-parole period of 28 years.
The former police officer and firefighter had contracted cancer in the workplace and his condition deteriorated after his arrest in October 2023.
He used a bike to flee many of the bank robberies, committed in SA towns between 2004 and 2014.
Justice McDonald had told Parsons as well as the many staff in the banks he robbed - and workers of other banks who feared they might be next - there was also a further category of victim.
"And that is your family," she said.
"Your family who now have to grapple not only with your imminent death but the fact that the man who is about to pass away is not the man that they thought they knew."
She described Parsons' actions as "morally reprehensible".
"Despite this, you have made a choice to attempt in some way to atone for your behaviour. You've attempted to give your victims some answers, some closure ... I accept that the apology you made in court was earnest, driven by remorse and guilt."
