Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Highland aristocrat, 40, found dead at foot of Caithness cliffs after ‘tragic accident’

Alex Sutherland was a keen surfer. Photo by Lunasurf.
Alex Sutherland was a keen surfer. Photo by Lunasurf.

A Highland aristocrat has been found dead at the foot of cliffs in what a friend described as a “tragic accident”.

The body of Alexander Sutherland – Lord Strathnaver – was found at the bottom of 30ft cliffs near the ruined 19th Century Thurso Castle in Caithness.

Police say his death is being treated as “unexplained”. Thurso Lifeboat was launched at 11.30pm on Saturday after reports of a person on the rocks.

A lifeboat spokesperson said: “The lifeboat quickly made its way to the area and casualty care trained crew members went ashore in the inflatable Y boat.

“They located the casualty and gave CPR and assisted Scottish Ambulance Service and local coastguard deal with the situation until police took control.”

‘A really happy-go-lucky person’

A friend said that Lord Strathnaver, 40, had been attending the Tunes in the Dunes music festival at Dunnet at the weekend.

A keen surfer, he also had a house a few miles away at Thurso East, which is a top UK surfing location.

Alex Sutherland died after falling from cliffs near Thurso Castle. Photo: Shutterstock

The friend said: “He was walking with a friend and she was ahead of him. The next she knew he had gone over the cliffs. It was a tragic accident.

“She climbed down to him and gave him CPR. Neither had a mobile phone. She had to climb back up and find a phone and call for help.

“Sadly Al could not be saved. He was such a lovely chap – a really happy go lucky person. He had no airs. I did not know him as Lord Strathnaver – just as Al.

“He was a keen surfer – he used to surf every day and that is why he had a house at Thurso East.

The whole community is shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic loss of Alexander Sutherland. On behalf of the…

Posted by Golspie Community Council on Monday, 5 September 2022

“He also had a little surf shop. It appears he had been at the music festival, had left it and may have been heading back. It is such a tragic loss.”

A police spokesperson said: “We were made aware of concern for a 40-year-old man near to Thurso Castle shortly after 11.20pm on Saturday.

“Emergency services attended but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

“His death is being treated as unexplained and inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”

Conversation