Troubles murder case: 'Renewed hope' for families of murdered RUC trio

Police officers Sean Quinn, Allan McCloy and Paul Hamilton were killed when their car was blown up near Lurgan in 1982

The families of three policemen murdered in an IRA attack 38 years ago have said they have "renewed hope" those involved will be identified.

A new investigation is looking to trace witnesses and use advances in technology to provide breakthroughs not available at the time.

Sean Quinn, Allan McCloy and Paul Hamilton were in a car blown up at Kinnego Embankment near Lurgan in 1982.

Their families said progress in the investigation was "encouraging".

The investigation is being run by John Boutcher, the retired chief constable of Bedfordshire police, who is heading up a number of outside investigations into killings from the Troubles.

"The legacy of what happened is an acute and permanent sense of loss and pain," the policemen's relatives said in a joint statement.

"In a single moment of barbaric carnage, faceless cowards changed our lives forever."

'They deserve the truth'

Part of Mr Boutcher's investigation will involve MI5 and Army intelligence who had bugged a hay shed the IRA used to store the explosives.

However, the listening device failed, enabling the IRA to mount the attack.

Two people suspected of involvement at the time were shot dead two weeks later by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in so-called shoot-to-kill incidents.

Mr Boutcher's inquiry, known as Operation Turma, will not look into the aftermath, only the deaths of the three RUC officers.

He said: "Six children have lived their lives without knowing their fathers.

"They deserve the truth. They have been told hardly anything."

Investigators have released this image of motorbike helmets found discarded after the bomb attack

He said there have been new scientific tests done on material recovered from the time "which has given a much better understanding of the people responsible".

The investigation is hoping to trace people who witnessed the getaway of those who set off the bomb, a 1,000lb landmine device detonated by a remote control.

They abandoned a motorbike on Francis Street in Lurgan and images of the helmets they discarded have been released to help jog the memories of witnesses.

Mr Boutcher said there was "understandable fear" about coming forward in 1982, but circumstances have changed.