Renewed Appeal On 5th Anniversary Of Murder Of James Donegan

Detectives from the PSNI's Major Investigation Team have issued a renewed appeal for information and witnesses on the fifth anniversary of James Donegan's murder.

The appeal comes as the independent charity Crimestoppers has announced a reward for the first time of up to £20,000 for information they exclusively receive that leads to the arrest and conviction of those involved in his murder.

Mr Donegan, who was known as Jim, was murdered as he waited for his 13-year-old son outside his school around 3.15pm in west Belfast on Tuesday, 4th December 2018.

The 43-year-old was shot several times by a lone gunman in broad daylight as he sat inside his red Porsche Panamera, registration JDZ34, on the Glen Road.

Detective Chief Inspector Wilson said: "This was a brutal execution and there can be no justification for it whatsoever. Mr Donegan was shot in the immediate vicinity of three schools and at the time there were a large number of schoolchildren in the area.

"The gunman, who we believe to be aged in his 40s, was wearing a hi vis jacket with the word 'security' on the back of it and made off from the scene on foot.

"Today, on the fifth anniversary of Mr Donegan's murder we are making a specific appeal to those who were in the area at the time of this cold-blooded execution.

"If you have any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, please come forward to police.

"Jim was a husband, a brother, a father to two sons and a stepfather and his family now sadly face their fifth Christmas without him. His family deserve answers and justice for his murder.

"I am appealing to anyone with information, or who may have captured dash cam footage, to come forward.

"I also want to highlight the reward of up to £20,000 from the independent charity Crimestoppers and understand that people may be afraid to speak up, but please be assured that you stay completely anonymous when you pass on what you know directly to Crimestoppers."

If you have information, call police on 101 or submit a report online at www.psni.police.uk/makeareport.

A spokesperson for the charity Crimestoppers said: "Our charity is here to support anyone with information about crime, but who doesn't want to give personal details or talk to the police. With Crimestoppers, we're only interested in what you know, not who you are or your identity. We are available 24/7 online at crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling our Contact Centre on 0800 555 111. Your information could make all the difference."

If you prefer not to talk to police, want to remain anonymous or are interested in claiming a reward, please contact the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or fill in their anonymous online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org

• Anonymity

Computer IP addresses are never traced and no-one will ever know you contacted Crimestoppers. For telephone calls, there is no caller line display, no 1471 facility and the charity has never traced a call.

• Claiming a reward

Information passed directly to the police will not qualify for a Crimestoppers reward. Should you be interested in a reward, you must state this when you initially pass on your information, whether that using the online form or whilst speaking to our charity's Contact Centre. To see if you are eligible for the reward, you must go online to the Crimestoppers website, use the 'Keeping in Contact' portal, request a reward code and then log back in 24 hours later to obtain a unique code. You'll be asked to check with us two months later with the reward unique code to see if there has been a positive result.