Ronan Kerr Murder: Search Widens To Cumbria

Detectives investigating the dissident republican murder of policeman Ronan Kerr are carrying out searches in Northern Ireland and north west England.

Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and officers in Cumbria Constabulary and the north west counter terrorism unit are conducting the operation, a PSNI spokeswoman said.

Catholic new recruit PC Kerr, 25, was killed in an under-car bomb attack by dissident republicans at his home in County Tyrone in April last year.

The Northern Ireland searches are in the Omagh area, and those in England are in Cumbria.

A PSNI spokeswoman said: "The search activity is in connection with the wider investigation into the murder of PSNI Constable Ronan Kerr in April 2011 and linked incidents."

PC Kerr died when he opened the door of his car outside his home in Omagh. Renegade republicans, opposed to the peace settlement, had attached a bomb to the vehicle.

His murder prompted condemnation from all political sides in Northern Ireland, while hundreds attended the funeral of the slain officer.

His family said his killers had not achieved their aim of dividing the community, with people united in their grief. His murder would also fail to deter young Catholics from joining the police force, they said.

The widened search for PC Kerr's murderers comes in the same month that Northern Ireland prison officer David Black was gunned down by dissident republicans while on his way to work at the Maghaberry jail.

Mr Black, the first prison officer to be murdered in Northern Ireland for 20 years, was shot in a high-speed ambush while on the M1 in County Armagh on November 1.