The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) has condemned the murder of Ian Ogle, a 45-year-old father of two, who was fatally beaten and apparently stabbed outside his home at Cluan Place in east Belfast on Sunday night. The paramilitary group issued a statement saying it was “seeking answers” over the killing, which has been blamed on its members.
In the statement, the UVF said: “Whoever did it did not do it in the name of loyalism or the UVF. Actions of this sort undermine the positive transformation which is taking place with the organisation and we distance ourselves from the appalling act on a popular member of our local community. We send heartfelt condolences to the wider family circle.”
Police are reviewing security camera footage and have appealed for witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage of the incident or its aftermath to come forward. Four people have been arrested in connection with the attack: two men aged 31 and 45 were released on bail on Monday, while two women aged 35 and 36 remain in custody.
The Belfast Telegraph reported that a long-running feud erupted in pub brawls on Sunday, leading UVF members to form a “punishment squad” to seek a relative of Ogle. The group, thought to number five men, could not find the target and instead attacked Ogle as he stood outside his front door. George Dorrian, a Democratic Unionist party councillor who knows the family, told the BBC: “It has been barbaric and the level of violence, the level that was used, was a disgrace.”
Ogle, known as “Big O”, was well known in the area and had served as a spokesperson for the loyalist community as a member of the Ulster People’s Forum, set up during loyalist flag protests in 2012. A GoFundMe page set up to help with funeral expenses had raised more than £7,000 by Tuesday afternoon. A vigil is planned for Wednesday evening. The UVF was one of the deadliest paramilitary groups during the Troubles, called a ceasefire in 1994, but has since been linked to murders, organised crime and vigilante “punishment attacks”.
