Stefan Sutherland: Family claims man's death in 2013 was murder

The family of a man found dead on a beach six years ago have called for his body to be exhumed and his death investigated as murder.

Stefan Sutherland, 25, disappeared from his home in Caithness on 6 September 2013 and his body was found on a nearby beach 11 days later.

His family dispute that his death was accidental and say blood was found at a house he visited before he disappeared.

Police Scotland said it will act on any new information in the case.

Officers have arranged to meet with Mr Sutherland's family to hear their concerns.

Mr Sutherland's disappearance was followed by searches of the local area by police, search dogs and a mountain rescue team.

His body was discovered by a member of the public on the shoreline near Occumster near Lybster.

Mr Sutherland's sister, Katrina Sutherland, said police told the family at the time if any significant findings were made then her brother's death would be "looked at seriously".

She said: "They said if there was blood for instance that would be significant. Blood was found in that house and nothing changed."

The Sutherlands have drawn parallels between their case and that of Kevin Mcleod, a 24-year-old also from Caithness whose body was found in Wick harbour in 1997.

Former police force Northern Constabulary did not investigate his death as a murder at the time as instructed by a Crown official.

Police Scotland has apologised for how the case was handled in the past.

How police dealt with Mr Mcleod's death and his family over the last 22 years is being reviewed by the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service and separately by Merseyside Police.

Ms Sutherland said: "When we heard lessons had been learned (in the Kevin Mcleod case) we thought this cannot happen again and surely the police are going to do a full and thorough investigation."

Mr Sutherland's brother Sandy added: "I think our family is resilient and six years into this we still have the backing of the community. We are not going to give up.

"No-one deserves to have their life cut short when they've got so much ahead of them."

Police Scotland said it had arranged to meet with Mr Sutherland's family.

Det Supt Graeme Mackie said: "As such, it would be inappropriate to discuss the case further before we have had the opportunity to meet with the family.

"However, I would say that will continue to act on any new information which is reported to Police Scotland in connection with Stefan's death and I would ask that if anybody has information who never came forward at the time for any reason, please contact the police."