Man held over barman’s death

Strathclyde Police said the teenager was taken into custody yesterday evening, less than a week after Stuart Walker’s body was discovered on an industrial estate in Cumnock, Ayrshire.

The force said the man is expected to appear at Ayr Sheriff Court on Monday.

Mr Walker, 28, died after suffering what police described as “horrible injuries”.

His body was discovered shortly before 5am last Saturday in the Caponacre industrial estate at Cumnock. Mr Walker had reportedly been beaten and burned.

Police had said that they did not believe it was a random attack and were investigating whether Mr Walker, who was openly gay, knew who had killed him.

Police had been investigating an alleged report of indecency against Mr Walker involving a 12-year-old boy, which had been passed to the Crown.

However, it was reported last night that Crown sources had said that there was “absolutely no corroboration” for the allegation and that it had been “going nowhere”.

The death of the barman, who formerly worked at the Royal Hotel in Cumnock, had shocked the local community. Thousands of people left messages on Face-book pages set up in his honour, with posts from friends and family as well as from strangers as far afield as California, France and Finland.

Thousands more had used Twitter, including the likes of comedian and actor Omid Djalili and author and journalist Tony Parsons, to send messages of condolence.

Questions had been raised in both the Scottish Parliament and Westminster concerning the killing, with both First Minister Alex Salmond and Prime Minister David Cameron offering their condolences to the family.