A MAN has been arrested by detectives in Ireland investigating the murder of a North Yorkshire builder whose body was found in a shallow grave more than three years ago.

The remains of Tommy Thompson, 58, of Riccall, were discovered in woodland in Dysart, Portlaoise, in the Irish midlands, in January 2008.

The father-of-five, who had been working in Ireland for the previous eight years as a plasterer, was reported missing from his home in Borris Road nine months earlier.

Police have now confirmed a man in his 30s has been arrested and is in custody in Ballymote, County Sligo, in connection with the investigation.

Two German men who worked with the plasterer were previously charged in court for theft from Mr Thompson’s home.

His family last heard from Mr Thompson on April 20, 2007, a week after he returned to Ireland following an Easter spent with his wife Sandra and daughters at their Riccall home.

His daughter, Jane, told The Press at the time: “Dad was always in contact with us. He would phone me and my sister every week and he was always on the phone to my mum.

“Then on April 20, at 10.10pm, his phone went off and it’s never been back on since.”

Within a few days, a search team was sent to his house which had been ransacked and police discovered traces of blood and in the following January, working on a tip-off, the police found the remains of a man in a shallow grave in woodland in County Laois.

The remains were later confirmed as those of Mr Thompson and a murder investigation was launched.

His family vowed they would not give up hope that his killer would be brought to justice.

Born in 1948, near Newcastle, Mr Thompson grew up in the north-east working on farms.

Later, he worked in the building trade in Germany and Gibraltar, before returning with his family to the UK, living in London for a number of years.

They moved to Riccall about 21 years ago and Mr Thompspn worked at Shepherd Construction, of York, before working independently as a plasterer.