Police reopen 'cold case' terror inquiries after officer's murder

POLICE in Northern Ireland have launched a re-investigation of cold case dissident republican attacks as it emerged that the terror groups are continuing to target officers in the wake of PC Ronan Kerr's murder.

The public outcry following the young Catholic officer's death has had no influence on the mindset of the violent extremists, who remain focused on killing members of the security forces, according to senior police sources.

Detectives have evidence that the dissidents have been actively targeting Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) personnel since blowing up 25-year-old PC Kerr in Omagh, Co Tyrone, last Saturday.

Officers do not want the nature of the intelligence to be made public for investigative reasons, but they say murder plots are being uncovered at a rate of one a fortnight.

One PSNI source added: "There is absolutely no indication the community outrage has had any impact on the mindset of the dissidents."

In a further development, it has emerged that, just 24 hours before the fatal blast in Omagh, police had ordered a team of detectives to begin sifting through evidence from historic dissident attacks, using the latest fingerprint recognition technology.

The objective was to ramp up the pressure on the terrorists.