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POLICE INVESTIGATING THE murder of PSNI constable Ronan Kerr have said that they believe they are close to making further charges.
The update was delivered on the day a 36-year-old was sentenced for a weapons find made three days after the murder.
Officers say that the investigation into the murder is the largest ever undertaken by the force and that they have identified the group they believe carried out the car bomb that killed Kerr in April 2011. They also believe they can link this group to other incidents.
Gavin Coyle, who was today sentenced to 10 years, leaving Dungannon Magistrates Court in 2011. (Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire)
The PSNI’s assistant chief constable for crime operations Drew Harris described the investigation into the murder as “lengthy and complicated”:
Although we have yet to bring charges for Ronan’s murder, this investigation, which is the largest in the PSNI’s history, is far from over. Detectives in serious crime branch have linked a total of 17 incidents to the same network of individuals and terrorist groupings. These include attempts to murder other police officers, a bomb attack, arms finds and armed robberies.
“We have made progress and we believe there is potential to bring other individuals before the courts. But we are not complacent,” added Harris.
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PSNI constable Kerr was killed when booby-trap bomb went off after he got into his car at Highfield Close in Omagh on Saturday, 2 April 2011.
The PSNI say that the resultant investigation has led to 14 arrests, 123 house searches and the seizure of 7,947 items.
Coalisland guns and explosive seizure
The update on the investigation was provided by the PSNI as 36-year-old Gavin Coyle, of Culmore Road, Omagh, was sentenced to a total of 10 years after admitting having guns and explosives with intent to endanger life and being a member of the IRA. Five years will be in custody with five on licence.
The arms and explosives, which included assault rifles and Semtex, were uncovered by detectives in premises at Mountjoy Road, Coalisland, Co Tyrone three days after the murder of Kerr in April 2011.
Following Coyle’s sentencing, PSNI officers have released a number of photos of the items seized that led to his conviction.
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@Tony Humphreys: The whole of EU is paying it? 20,000 train tickets costs nothing in the grand scheme of things.
These kids will still have to pay for accommodation, food entertainment, etc. along with the VAT in each country they visit anyway, which should recuperate the costs of the tickets. It’s not a completely free holiday they’re getting!
And nothing for us in our late 60s who kept Irish rail in business over the years and now have all the time in the world to travel to other European destinations are we older folk not Irish Europeans
@liam ward60: Irish Rail isn’t financing these trips, it’s an EU initiative and a form of cheap advertising as the winners are expected to become ‘EU ambassadors’, posting frequently to social
Media. Nothing for people in their late 60s? Residents over 65 have free bus, Luas and rail travel plus additional free travel on cross-border services. Many countries across Europe have special fares for senior citizens. I’m in my 60s and certainly don’t begrudge a couple of hundred young people getting free tickets every year.
@Niall Farrell: They would be in breach of GDPR if they use a file picture from Europe… All file pictures that media outlets now use are from outside the EU and thus avoiding GDPR rule and regulations.
@Humphrey Harold Haddington: If that were the case can you explain all of the other photos of groups on the journal?
Or maybe they just used a stock photo without thinking to hard.
I imagine it’s pretty cheap to pay for as the trains run anyway and it’s 20k people outta 500million. Personally I’d like to see it means assessed as a lotta richer kids do it anyway as a right of passage. Saying that an inter-rail ticket for 7days travel in a thirty day period is €250. Not that difficult for a motivated teen to earn and save. Plenty of work about. 8000 vacancies in the hospitality sector, landscape gardeners have great difficulty finding staff…..
@Learned Chew: yeah let’s make it complicated and expensive to administer so they just don’t bother doing schemes like this.
Means testing a train ticket ffs.
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