Evidence of assault in 2022

New evidence has emerged to suggest a man who disappeared more than 20 years ago was assaulted on the night he was last seen.

Robert Scott Clive, from Stranraer, was captured on CCTV shortly after 23:00 BST on 10 October 2002, walking towards the Coronation Street area of North Shields.

Earlier this year, three people were arrested on suspicion of murder and bailed pending further inquiries, police said.

Mr Clive’s family asked people with information to come forward, saying they were “desperate for answers to end the heartbreak of not knowing what has happened”.

Mr Clive, known as Scott, was a 30-year-old labourer who had moved to Prudhoe Terrace in North Shields from south-west Scotland 10 months before he disappeared.

Police say they are “keeping an open mind” as to the exact circumstances surrounding his disappearance and continue to conduct a murder investigation, although no trace of Mr Scott has been found.

Detectives said: “New evidence has now come to light which suggests Scott was assaulted while on Coronation Street.”

In a statement, Mr Clive’s family said: “We just want to know what happened to Scott.

“You could hold the key to us finding out what happened to him and help bring some peace to our family.”

In 2008, police said they thought Mr Scott had fallen in to the River Tyne, following “unconfirmed sightings” of a man matching his description near its banks.

However, in February this year officers searched an house on Coronation Street where it was known Mr Clive had visited on the evening he went missing.

They did this “with the support of the current occupant who moved in after 2002”, police added.

Officers have appealed for anyone who saw an assault or any other sign of Mr Scott on or after 10 October 2002 to get in touch.