Jim Donegan: Police inaction 'may have contributed' to shooting

Mr Donegan was collecting his 13-year-old son from school when he was killed

A failure by police to pass on specific details about a dissident republican murder threat may have contributed to the shooting of Jim Donegan in west Belfast, a high court judge has ruled.

The 43 year old was shot dead while waiting to pick up his son from St Mary's Grammar School on the Glen Road in December 2018.

No one has been charged.

Madam Justice Quinlivan found there was a failure to warn him of the danger of being in that area.

The judge identified negligence around the processing of intelligence received months before the attack.

Backing a challenge by the victim's family, she said: "The specificity of that threat may have caused Mr Donegan to change his pattern of behaviour, specifically in relation to collecting his son from school, and may have saved his life."

The judge said she was not satisfied that any acts by police could have resulted in Mr Donegan's killing, but she held the view that by not explaining the death threat fully to him, it may have contributed to his death.

• Donegan family fear culprits will not be caught

It emerged that in June 2018, police received information dissident republicans intended to target an unnamed man, who they believed to be involved in the drugs trade, who drove a Range Rover and regularly collected a child from school on the Glen Road.

Mr Donegan picked up his son from St Mary's every Tuesday and Thursday.

He had previously driven a Range Rover and kept the same registration number for his Porsche.

Within days of receiving the information, police did inform Mr Donegan that he was under threat from dissident republicans.

However, no specific details about the vehicle or the school were included in the warning.

In 2019, police said they believed both the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and Óglaigh na hÉireann (ONH) were involved in the shooting.