Murder case arrest decades after disappearance

Robert Scott Clive went missing in October 2002

A man has been arrested after new information came to light in a decades-long murder investigation.

In 2002, Robert Scott Clive from Stranraer vanished without a trace following a night out in North Shields.

His disappearance was reported to police by concerned family members and a murder probe was launched, despite no body ever being found.

Northumbria Police announced on Thursday they had arrested a 49-year-old man who has since been released on bail.

The missing man, known as Scott, was last seen just after 23:00 GMT on 10 October 2002 in the Borough Road area of North Shields.

In the years since his disappearance police have scoured hundreds of hours of CCTV footage and spoken to a host of witnesses in an attempt to piece together his movements that evening.

'We can't bear this torment'

Mr Clive's mother, Patricia Clive, is begging anyone with more information to come forward and allow the family to grieve and move forward.

"I have four grandsons and the eldest has just turned 30, the age Scott was when he went missing," she said.

"We can’t help but make comparisons. He is living his life to the full and has everything we wished for Scott.

"We can’t bear this torment any longer, almost 22 years of us missing him and not knowing what happened.

"We need to lay it and Scott to rest."

Det Insp Mark Atherton, who is leading on the case, said: "We have always kept an open mind as to the exact circumstances surrounding Scott’s disappearance and that remains the case.

"The key to this investigation could still be out there within the local community.

"Scott’s family have had to live for the last 22 years not knowing what happened to him and we hope to give them the closure they deserve by finding out what exactly happened that night.

"Please, if you know anything, think of them and pass on any relevant information to us."