LAST UPDATE | 1 Feb 2019

A 22-YEAR old man arrested in connection with the murder of Ian Ogle in Belfast has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

PSNI detectives arrested the man yesterday along with another man (36) on suspicion of murder. 

The number of people arrested as part of the investigation now stands at nine after police arrested a 38-year-old man today.

Both the 36-year-old man and the 38-year-old man remain in police custody.

A 21-year-old man arrested on Wednesday has also been released on bail pending further enquiries.

Five other people – three men aged 31, 45 and 49 and two women aged 35 and 36, were previously released on bail.

Ogle, a father-of-two and community worker, was killed at Cluan Place in East Belfast last weekend. The 45-year-old was attacked just before 9.30pm on Sunday by a group of at least five men.

During the incident, which police described as “brutal”, his skull was fractured and he was “savagely stabbed 11 times in the back before being left to die on the street”.

Ogle’s family have requested that their privacy be respected at this time.

Possible UVF link 

Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy yesterday confirmed that one line of enquiry being explored is that Ogle, a prominent loyalist, was murdered by “individuals who were members of East Belfast UVF”.

He said it is too early in the investigation to establish the veracity of statements about the murder purported to be from the Ulster Volunteer Force.

In a statement to the Irish News, the UVF condemned the attack and said those who carried it out “did not do it in the name of loyalism or the UVF”. 

Murphy appealed for witnesses to contact police, saying Ogle’s murder was “an attack on the fabric of the community”. Hundreds of people attended a vigil for Ogle in east Belfast on Wednesday. 

Anyone with information has been asked to contact police via the phone number 101, referencing 1303 of 27/1/19, or by calling Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.