Police Scotland has launched an investigation following the death of a 76-year-old woman at a property on Pladda Avenue in Irvine. Emergency services were called to the scene at approximately 6:15am on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, after reports of a death. The woman was pronounced dead at the location, and her family has been notified of the tragedy.

The incident prompted a significant emergency response, with police, ambulance, and fire crews descending on the North Ayrshire street. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service personnel attended the scene, including a Fire Investigation Unit van, while police established a substantial cordon around the property and adjoining streets. Officers restricted vehicle access through the area, informing residents that the closure could last up to three hours.

Authorities have indicated that the death is not believed to be suspicious, though enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident. Forensic officers conducted examinations at the property, including photographing the back garden where a tarpaulin was observed covering a hedge, flanked by stepladders and secured with thin blue rope.

Police Scotland confirmed that a report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal as part of standard procedure for unexplained deaths. The public was advised to avoid Pladda Avenue during the investigation, though the police statement emphasized that the circumstances do not currently suggest foul play in the elderly woman's passing.

London's Metropolitan Police has reversed its longstanding position on grooming gangs in the capital, acknowledging for the first time that it has multiple active investigations into group-based child sexual exploitation. The shift came after an investigation by MyLondon and The Daily Express challenged official statements from both police leadership and Mayor Sadiq Khan, who had consistently maintained there were "no reports" or "no indication" of Rochdale or Rotherham-style rape gangs operating in London.

The investigation uncovered evidence from four separate His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services reports spanning 2016 to 2025 that documented at least six potential victims of grooming gang abuse. These case studies, which the Mayor of London personally responded to according to public statements, described children as young as 13 being exploited by groups of predatory men. The reports detailed how girls were plied with drugs and alcohol, raped in hotels by multiple perpetrators, and subjected to life-threatening situations.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley revealed to Assembly Members at City Hall that the force now acknowledges a "steady flow" of live multi-offender child sexual exploitation investigations and a "very significant" number of historic cases requiring reinvestigation. The commissioner estimated these reviews would cost "millions of pounds a year, for several years" to properly investigate, contradicting previous assertions that the force had "not seen" such cases in London.

Political figures including Reform UK MP Lee Anderson and Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp have criticized the mayor's handling of the situation, with Anderson stating there is "real, credible evidence that grooming gangs exist in London" and Philp alleging that Khan is "facilitating a cover-up." A spokesman for the mayor maintained that Khan has "always been clear that the safety of Londoners is his top priority" and remains "committed to doing all he can to protect children in London."