Man (49) arrested over L'Derry bomb

The suspect was detained this morning and is being questioned about a bomb which was found under an off-duty police officer's car.

Press Eye
Author: Naomi HollandPublished 24th Apr 2018
Last updated 24th Apr 2018

A 49-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the attempted murder of a police officer.

A viable under-car booby trap device was discovered at his home in the Ardanlee area of Londonderry last February.

A group calling itself the New IRA is believed to have been behind the attack.

Press Eye

Detective Inspector Peter McKenna, who is leading the PSNI investigation, said: "If this device had exploded with our colleague and his young family in the car it would have had devastating consequences.''

The suspect was detained in the Creggan area of the city on Tuesday and has been taken to Musgrave Street serious crime suite in Belfast for questioning.

He is the fifth person to be arrested in connection with the incident.

Mr McKenna said some people in the community may still hold clues which could help detectives.

Press Eye

He said: "We believe the New IRA are responsible for this cowardly attack during which they put the safety of all members of the community at risk as the device was left in a residential area and could have exploded at any time.

"I would like to thank the public for their assistance to date but I believe there are still people in the community who hold vital pieces of information that could assist police and I would appeal to them to make contact with detectives."