Detectives investigating killing of 29-year-old reporter have written letter to residents of street in the Creggan

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

Residents who live in the Derry street where the Irish journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead a year ago this weekend have been asked to provide any fresh information they can recall about the murder.

Detectives investigating the killing of the 29-year-old reporter have written a letter to residents of the street in the Creggan area of the city asking them to think back to the night she died.

Lyra McKee was killed after being struck by bullets during rioting on police lines in the district. The republican dissident group the New IRA is suspected of being behind the gun attack during which McKee was shot dead.

A man has been charged with her murder and a number of other paramilitary offences. He denies all the charges.

Det Supt Jason Murphy, who is leading the investigation into the journalist’s murder, made a direct appeal for help to the Creggan community.

In his letter, the senior Police Service of Northern Ireland officer said: “Lyra’s murder was not committed in isolation, nor did it involve only one person.

“The events that led up to Lyra being shot, and the events afterwards, are equally important. I am asking the community to reach into its conscience and tell us what it knows.

“Lyra’s family cannot begin the grieving process without the information about Lyra’s murder that they deserve.”

Murphy also appealed to people in the area and the wider community to come forward with any mobile or video footage that they may have taken on the night of the disorder in Derry.

He said: “We have made the public portal available again, so that you can contact us discreetly. Log on to https://mipp.police.uk from your mobile, tablet, laptop or other device.

“We do not need to keep your mobile phone or device, we are only interested in downloading the videos or images of that night.”

The senior investigating officer added: “Ease your conscience and help us resolve a small part of the nightmare that the McKee family live through every single day.”

In an interview on Friday with BBC Radio Foyle, McKee’s partner, Sarah Canning, said she had been through a “most horrific and surreal year”.

She said: “I miss my life with her. If I could go back to this last year I’d do things differently. I wish we stayed in bed that night and read books and talked nonsense to each other. I really hope we get justice. I don’t want to give up hope.”