Four men held over murder of Lorraine McCausland in 1987

Detectives investigating the rape and murder of a young mother found beaten to death after a night out in a loyalist club in Northern Ireland have arrested a further four men.

Two men, aged 54 and 56, were detained in Belfast and two in Antrim, aged 53 and 59, in connection with the killing of Lorraine McCausland 30 years ago.

The development comes 24 hours after three men were arrested in Great Britain – two in Scotland and one in England.

Mother-of-two Ms McCausland (23) was found beside a stream in the Forth river area of north Belfast in the early hours of March 8th, 1987. She had been for a night out and was last seen in a nearby loyalist club at Tyndale.

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The case was reopened last year after detectives identified “potential new lines of inquiry”.

Fourteen arrests were made during the original police investigation but no one was charged. Members of the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association were suspected of killing Ms McCausland.

Violent group

Police believe witnesses have long been fearful of coming forward due to the involvement of the violent group.

Ms McCausland’s son, Craig, was murdered in north Belfast in 2005 during a spate of killings linked to a loyalist paramilitary feud.

Detectives detained two men, aged 49 and 56, in Scotland and another suspect, aged 53, in England on Wednesday. The three men were transported to Northern Ireland for questioning.

The four suspects arrested on Thursday have been taken to Musgrave police station in Belfast.

PA