Barman 'tied to post and set alight'

The body of a man bearing "horrible injuries" has been found on an industrial estate in Scotland, after being apparently tied to a lamp-post and set alight.

Stuart Walker, 28, a barman from Cumnock in Ayrshire, was found dead at the Caponacre site in his home town at 5am on Saturday.

It was thought that Mr Walker, right, may have been the victim of a homophobic attack, though police did not comment on the speculation. Detective Inspector John Hogg said: "Stuart had been out with friends in the Cumnock area earlier during the night and was last seen alive by a family friend near to the fire station in Glaisnock Street around 0230 hours on Saturday – nearly two-and-a-half hours before he was found. It is imperative that we find out where he was between 0230 and 0450 hours, who he was with and why this happened to him."

He added: "From our inquiries so far, we understand that there may have been a number of house parties in the nearby Netherthird housing estate in the early hours of the morning. We do not know if these parties are linked to our investigation or not, so again, any information on that is important."

Friends of Mr Walker were planning to light candles and lanterns of remembrance in a park near his home. Tributes on Facebook remembered him as "a young man who always had a smile on his face".