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Renewed appeal over Jim Donegan murder in Belfast

Jim Donegan was shot dead as he waited to collect his 13-year-old son from school
Jim Donegan was shot dead as he waited to collect his 13-year-old son from school

Police in Northern Ireland have renewed their appeal for information about the murder of a man in Belfast on the fifth anniversary of his death.

Jim Donegan was shot dead in the west of the city as he waited to collect his 13-year-old son from school.

The 43-year-old was shot several times by a lone gunman as he sat in his red Porsche Panamera car on the Glen Road.

The killer made off on foot.

At the time, reports linked his murder to the drugs trade.

Mr Donegan was known to the police.

Detectives believe the gunman was in his 40s. He was wearing a high-vis jacket with the word "security" written on the back.

Detectives believe the gunman was wearing a high-vis jacket

Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Wilson said police were appealing specifically to people who were in the area at the time.

DCI 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 there were a large number of schoolchildren in the area."

A £20,000 (€23,000) reward has been offered by the independent charity, Crimestoppers, which promises anonymity to those who supply information.

Mr Donegan's family took legal action claiming that police failed to pass on a threat that their father was being targeted.

A high court judge found that there had been a failure to alert him to the danger of following a set routine of picking his child up at school and that it may have contributed to his death.

In 2019, police said they believed members of two republican groupings - the INLA and ONH - had been involved in the killings.