Murdered Policeman Remembered

A year on from the death of the first PSNI officer to be murdered, the widow of Constable Stephen Carroll has said she feels the pain of her loss every day.

Speaking exactly a year after his tragic death, at the hands of dissident republicans, Kate Carroll told the North's Belfast News Letter: "I don't feel any anger or outrage at those who did this - to be honest I don't think about them, I prefer to think about Steve and how he was. He died doing the job the loved."

Three males - aged 17, 21 and 37 - have been charged in connection with the murder of the Catholic police officer and a further 14 arrests made as part of the ongoing investigation.

Constable Carroll became the first member of the PSNI to be killed by republicans when he was gunned down after responding to a call from a woman in Craigavon.

His murder, which was later claimed by the Continuity IRA, came less than 48 hours after the Real IRA shot and killed two soldiers at Massereene Barracks in Antrim.

The murder proved to be something of a watershed for mainstream republicans, with the Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness denouncing his killers as "traitors"

Meanwhile, the trial has begun this week of a prominent republican alleged to have attempted to murder a UDR man almost 30 years ago.

Terence Gerard McGeough, known as Gerry, was shot in the chest by the intended victim Samuel Brush as he fought back in July 1981.

Mr McGeough, from the Carrycastle Road, Dungannon, is accused of attempted murder, possession of two revolvers and being in the IRA between 1975 and 1981.

Another man faces a number of charges including helping Mr McGeough.

(BMcC/GK)