A young Catholic man bludgeoned to death by loyalist killers had escaped an earlier attack by diving into a river as gunmen opened fire, an inquest heard today.

Loyalist paramilitaries were tonight suspected of bludgeoning a man to death.

Detectives investigating a murder attempt linked to an ongoing feud between loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland tonight arrested three men.

Police in the North have warned that the ongoing feud within the Ulster Defence Association appears to have spread to the outskirts of Belfast.