Local priest condemns Kerr murder

The murder of a Catholic police recruit in Omagh was indefensible, a parish priest said today. No cause or reason can ever justify the crime, Fr Kevin McElhennon said.

The parish priest at Christ the King church said in an address to parishioners: “No one should be in any doubt that this terrible deed is morally wrong and indefensible. No cause or reason can ever justify murder.”

Fr McElhennon added: “A terrible darkness descended upon our community with the murder of Constable Ronan Kerr.

“The entire community is shocked and stunned by this horrendous crime. The tragedy is compounded on this Mother’s Day by the thought of such dreadful news coming to his widowed mother (Nuala Kerr).”

He said there was a moral obligation on everyone to provide the authorities with information assisting in the investigation of the crime.