PSNI OFFICERS investigating the murder of police constable Ronan Kerr have issued a new appeal for assistance in identifying a number of vehicles, and an unknown man, who were seen in the Omagh area shortly before Kerr was killed.

Officers are focusing on 11 vehicles and an unidentified man who was seen in the vicinity of Highfield Close in Omagh in the days leading up to Saturday 2 April last year, and on the way itself, when Kerr was killed by a booby-trap bomb while leaving for work.

PSNI detective superintendent Raymond Murray said the vehicles and man were “significant for one of two reasons: they are either valuable witnesses or potential suspects”.

“That is why we need anyone who knows anything about these appeals to come forward so that we can progress the investigation ” he said.

The investigation into the death of Constable Kerr, 25, has been one of the largest police operations in Northern Ireland since the Omagh bombing of 1998.

“This is a long-term investigation with Ronan Kerr’s murder at its core but incorporating several linked incidents,” Murray said.

“It is an extremely large investigation which, as we said at the outset, will rely on detail to succeed and can be progressed with continuing support from the community.”

To date there have been 10 arrests as part of the investigation, with one person charged relating to a linked incident. Police say a comprehensive forensic strategy is being pursued, involving hundreds of items which are being examined at labs in the North, Britain and the US.

Police have issued a map showing the appropriate areas of Omagh in which the vehicles and man were sighted; their map can be downloaded here.

Anyone with information on the murder can contact the special incident room in Omagh at (028) 82256687 from Northern Ireland, or (048) 82256687 from the Republic.