Floral tributes left on Belfast street where community worker was murdered

Scores of floral tributes have been left on an east Belfast street where community worker Ian Ogle was murdered.

The 45-year-old father-of-two died after being seriously assaulted in Cluan Place, near a busy arterial route in the city, at around 9pm on Sunday.

Police have appealed for witnesses to come forward, particularly anyone who may have seen a group of men running in the area.

Officers remained at the cordoned-off scene on Tuesday.

Up to 70 floral tributes, along with Everton FC and Rangers FC flags and scarfs were left at the railings where Mr Ogle was attacked.

A number of local people were at the scene, but declined to speak to the media.

The tributes included numerous messages, many addressing Mr Ogle by his nicknames Big O and Big Ogie.

Some of the messages expressed anger at the incident, while others spoke of heartbreak at the death of a man they described as a “true gentleman”.

One of the messages read: “To Ian, never thought I would be writing this. You stood your ground and loved your family. Will miss the banter we had together, you lived and died everyone’s friend.”

Another, attached to a bunch of orange roses, simply read: “You’ll be sadly missed by everyone. True family man.”

The PSNI Serious Crime Branch launched a murder investigation on Monday.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter McKenna described the murder as “brutal”.

The scene was examined, as well as an area of Pitt Park, a short distance away.

Two men aged 31 and 45 and two women aged 35 and 36 were arrested over the murder.

The men were released on police bail, while the woman remained in custody on Tuesday afternoon.

In a statement issued to the Irish News newspaper, the east Belfast UVF “wholeheartedly condemned” the murder.

They said: “Whoever did it did not do it in the name of loyalism or the UVF.”

A fundraising page set up to help Mr Ogle’s family pay for his funeral had raised more than £7,000 in just 19 hours by Tuesday afternoon.