Man charged over Ronan Kerr social network comments

A 45-year-old man has been charged with posting offensive comments on a social networking site in which he allegedly gloated over the dissident republican murder of a police officer in Northern Ireland. Constable Ronan Kerr died after a booby-trap bomb exploded underneath his car in Omagh on 2 April. A faction of the Real IRA based in east Tyrone admitted responsibility for the murder. The man who was alleged to have made the remarks was arrested in Cookstown and charged with distributing material that was threatening or offensive. He is to appear at Dungannon magistrates court on 22 July. He was charged under the Malicious Communications Act. One of the conditions of the police bail is that he is not allowed to use a computer. Social network sites and YouTube have come under pressure to monitor pro-dissident republican material on the internet. Last year YouTube said it would take down films of masked and armed Real IRA members reading out statements to supporters in which they praised terrorist attacks and vowed to carry out more violence in Northern Ireland.