Let my husband's death be last, begs widow

The widow of the Catholic policeman murdered by dissident republican gunmen has made an emotional plea for his death to be the last in the North's conflict.

Kate Carroll, whose husband Stephen was shot by the Continuity IRA on Monday evening, said her only wish was that he did not die in vain.

“I hope that this is last time that anybody has to suffer what I’ve suffered as a result of what happened to Steve,” she said at the couple’s Banbridge home ahead of the constable’s funeral tomorrow.

The mother-of-one added: “He thought this war was over, but obviously not and I just can’t believe this has all started up again.

“If Steve’s death has made a positive effect on all of this that’s all I care about. It’s a hard lesson for everyone to learn but if it brings something positive out of it then fine, but I don’t want Steven to have died in vain.”

Pc Carroll, 48, was shot in the back of the head as he sat in an unmarked police patrol car in Craigavon, Co Armagh.

His death came only 48 hours after two British soldiers, Sappers Mark Quinsey, 23, from Birmingham and Patrick Azimkar, 21, from London, were murdered by the Real IRA outside Massereene army base in Antrim.

The killings prompted an outcry from all sides of the community in the North and yesterday tens of thousands attended peace vigils across the region to voice their disgust.