logo
Search for missing Ayrshire man with ties to Dumfries and Arran

Search for missing Ayrshire man with ties to Dumfries and Arran

Daily Record16-05-2025

Christopher Bennett, 40, from Irvine, was last seen in the Harbour Street area of Irvine heading towards the beach at around 10.45am yesterday.
A search has been launched for a missing man from Ayrshire who has been known to the Dumfries and Isle of Arran areas.
Christopher Bennett, 40, from Irvine, was reported missing yesterday, Thursday, May 15 having last been seen in the Kilwinning Road area of the town at around 9am.

Enquiries so far have revealed that, after visiting the Rivergate Shopping Centre in Irvine at around 9.30am, Christopher was later seen on Harbour Street heading towards Irvine Beach at around 10.45am.

Christopher is described as white British, 5ft 5in tall, of stocky build with greying-black hair which he recently shaved bald and brown eyes and is a regular smoker.
He was last seen wearing a long-sleeved grey top and blue denim jeans but may now be in possession of a pair of sunglasses and a change of clothes.
Christopher is known in the Ardrossan area and was previously known to frequent the Dumfries and Isle Of Arran areas.
Police are appealing for information to help trace his whereabouts.
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: "Officers from Ayrshire are seeking the assistance of the public in an effort to trace a 40-year-old male missing from Irvine in North Ayrshire.

"Christopher Bennett was last seen near Kilwinning Road, Irvine about 9am on Thursday, May 15.
"He is described as white British, 5ft 5in, stocky build, greying-black hair which he recently shaved bald as per image, brown eyes, a regular smoker and was last seen wearing a long-sleeved grey top and blue denim jeans.
"Extensive enquiries are underway which have so far revealed that Christopher was seen within Rivergate Mall, Irvine about 9.30am on Thursday and may now be in possession of sunglasses and a change of clothes.

"He was further seen on Harbour Street, Irvine heading towards the beach about 10.45am.
"Christopher is known to the Ardrossan area, and has previously been known to frequent the Dumfries and Isle Of Arran areas.
"Anyone with information is asked to call officers at Irvine Police office on the police non-emergency number 101."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Brit couple found with £1m of cannabis in luggage in latest 'drug mule' fears
Brit couple found with £1m of cannabis in luggage in latest 'drug mule' fears

Daily Mirror

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mirror

Brit couple found with £1m of cannabis in luggage in latest 'drug mule' fears

Sian Warren, 34, and Daniel McDonald, 36, from Salford, have been accused of trying to smuggle cannabis valued at £1million through Heathrow Airport on their way back from Thailand A couple have been charged with trying to smuggle cannabis valued at £1million into the UK after being stopped at Heathrow Airport. Sian Warren, 34, and Daniel McDonald, 36, were on their way back from Thailand when officers from the National Crime Agency reportedly found more than 51kg of cannabis in their luggage. It is understood that the drug was in four cases that the pair were carrying. They appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court where they have been charged with importing Class B drugs and have been bailed under curfew ahead of a plea hearing on June 26 at Isleworth Crown Court. Warren and McDonald, from Salford, went to Bangkok on holiday last month and Warren's dad Tony told The Sun that there must have been a mistake. He said: 'Sian's not brought anything back, definitely not. She had her own suitcase with clothes in it.' It is the latest of several incidents involving British holidaymakers who have been accused of smuggling drugs from Thailand as an expert warned that criminal gangs are 'grooming' naive tourists. In the last few weeks, three British women have hit the headlines after they were accused of attempting to smuggle drugs. Bella May Cullen, 18, was arrested after flying into Georgia from Thailand with around 14kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish in her luggage. A day later former TUI stewardess Charlotte May Lee was allegedly caught with 46kg of Kush – a high-grade strain of cannabis – in her luggage valued at £1.2million after arriving in Sri Lanka, again from Thailand. And then it emerged another Brit, Isabella Daggett, 21, from Leeds, has been held in a hellhole Dubai prison since March, when she was arrested on suspected drugs offences. Nathan Paul Southern, the Operations Director at The EyeWitness Project, which specialises in the investigation of organised crime, conflict and corruption, says southeast Asia has now become the world 's leading supplier of both narcotics like heroin and synthetic drugs like ecstasy and crystal meth. The 'Golden Triangle' - a large mountainous region on the borders with Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, recently overtook Afghanistan as the world's largest producer of opium, used to make heroin. And he says gangs are 'flocking' to the region from around the world, where they appear to be using grooming techniques used in other types of crimes to ensnare impressionable young Westerners. Mr Southern told the Mirror: 'The idea of charming strangers grooming backpackers isn't new, it's just the same old tactics in a region with a booming drug trade. The same grooming techniques we've seen in romance scams and human trafficking could be getting adapted for drug smuggling.

Policing is about making hard choices - and it always has been
Policing is about making hard choices - and it always has been

Scotsman

time2 hours ago

  • Scotsman

Policing is about making hard choices - and it always has been

PA Without adequate resources, what are the police to do less of ? Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It was no coincidence when last week police chiefs in England and Wales publicly warned that unless more funding came their way some policing tasks could not be done. The week before the government's Spending Review is prime time for shroud waving , all non-ringfenced departments will be doing it , either by the front pages or the back channels. But that doesn't mean the problems are not real. Policing structures south of the border desperately need reformed , but that in itself is expensive , and in the meantime police forces face the intractable problem of increasing demand and shrinking resources. Something has got to give . Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Here in Scotland , our national police service is the end result of a long process of reform , but after 12 years of cost cutting it too is struggling to make ends meet . The recent rise in employees national insurance didn't help , adding millions to the wage bill, but with well over a billion pounds taken out of policing since 2013 the underfunding is deep seated. Policing is a people business and if savings are to be made it's inevitably the head count that suffers . Police Scotland has now got fewer staff than at any time in its existence and are finding it hard to recruit . The Covid pandemic changed much , including the world of work. Home and part time working are now seen as a right rather than a privilege. For that and other reasons a life in policing is not been seen by some as the attractive proposition it once was. Anti-social hours , and regular exposure to aggression and violence do not come top of many checklists. But there are other problems in policing , one illustrated perfectly by a recent news feature on the work of Police Scotland's Online Sexual Abuse Unit. In yet another societal change since the pandemic , online sexual offending has risen by 30 per cent in the last decade, with no sign of levelling out . Rising demand of this kind must be met with a professional response , and that means more specialist officers, taken from the street and trained for their onerous task . Online crime is just one example of societal change that affects policing , but there are many more , and while it will be cold comfort to today's police chiefs, the truth is that from the dawn of policing it has always been this way. For close to two hundred years policing has been adapting to change , whether it was the coming of the railways and travelling criminals in the 19th, or the introduction of the motor car with all its problems and new legislation in the early 20th century, there has always been a need to adapt and make hard choices. In my time the appearance of illegal drugs in the 1970s changed everything once again, and remains of the most deadly destroyers of young lives and drivers of crime. Then came the internet and the digital world that changed the world of crime again . Throughout , the police service has prioritised and adapted - but there's a limit , and police chiefs are right to pose the question . It's easy to take on more and more new tasks, but with shrinking resources it eventually means we must do less of others. And that's the real question for our political leaders . Without adequate resources, what are the police to do less of ?

Return of the Mack star Mark Morrison's team hit out as battery charge dropped
Return of the Mack star Mark Morrison's team hit out as battery charge dropped

Daily Mirror

time7 hours ago

  • Daily Mirror

Return of the Mack star Mark Morrison's team hit out as battery charge dropped

Mark Morrison, whose song Return of the Mack topped the UK charts in 1996, was taken into custody on Saturday but denied that any battery occurred at Le Bar à Vin in Palm Beach, Florida A battery charge against British singer Mark Morrison - best known for his 1996 hit Return of the Mack - has been dropped. The musician, 51, was taken into custody on Saturday after an alleged altercation at Le Bar à Vin in Palm Beach, Florida. However, the star's lawyers have today confirmed he was at the restaurant to talk to the manager and attempt to collect payment on behalf of a local singer who had performed at the venue. ‌ Although the "conversation escalated", Mr Morrison's lawyers said no physical altercation happened and now police have been able to dismiss the battery charge. In a statement, King Legal Group said: "The decision to nolle prosse (formally decline prosecution) ends what should never have been a criminal matter in the first place. ‌ "Mr Morrison has consistently and unequivocally denied that any battery occurred. There was no physical altercation—only a demand for fairness and accountability. The evidence never supported criminal intent or conduct." The legal team explained how Mr Morrison, whose track Return of the Mack spent two weeks as UK number one in April 1996, values standing up for what he believes in. However, they suggested race may have played a role in how the singer was treated. "While we are relieved the State has dismissed the charge, the underlying context cannot be ignored. The refusal to pay — coupled with how quickly the situation was criminalised — raises legitimate concerns about whether race played a role in how Mr Morrison was treated. It's not lost on us that advocating for fair pay, especially as a Black man in a position of leadership, can be met with suspicion instead of dialogue," the statement added. "Mr Morrison has spent years supporting local artists and standing up for what's right. That won't change. He is grateful for those who stood by him, and he remains committed to uplifting the artistic community in Palm Beach County and beyond. Towards that end, and in furtherance of Mr Morrison's commitment to his community, he is donating the $1000.00 (£730) bond used to secure his appearance, to Little Smiles, a local children's charity." Mr Morrison posed for a mugshot in a blue jumpsuit before he was released on Sunday morning. The musician has had a long history of both musical success and legal troubles. He burst onto the music scene in the mid-90s, enjoyed significant success with Return of the Mack. The song became an anthem of its time, widely regarded as one of the defining tracks of the 1990s R&B movement. Its success propelled Mr Morrison into the spotlight, and he quickly became one of the genre's most promising stars.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store