A group of businessmen are offering a huge cash reward for information leading to the conviction of the IRA gunman who tried to murder ex-British agent Marty McGartland.
The English-based businessmen have put up £50,000 in an attempt to have the Provo assassination unit arrested and jailed.
No-one has ever been charged with the murder bid. McGartland was targeted after the IRA traced him to a safe house in England.
He was shot seven times outside his home in Whitely Bay, near Newcastle, in broad daylight. He survived only because he wrestled with the gunman, managing to grab the pistol, when it was pointed at his head, and turn it away.
Posters and leaflets will be circulated in Newcastle today advertising the reward. They show a picture of a balaclava-clad gunman with the question 'Know him?' Anyone with information is asked to email helpmartinmcgartland@gmail.com.
The businessmen are also offering cash rewards of up to £2,000 to people anonymously giving information which will lead to arrests and convictions.
McGartland's supporters claim there's been a massive cover-up by both Northumbria cops and police here to stop the Provo unit being brought to justice.
The ex-agent said his friends had taken the dramatic step of putting up their own hard-earned cash out of "pure frustration at the lack of any proper investigation".
Speaking from his secret hideaway in Britain, McGartland added: "The police investigation is going nowhere. The gunman's DNA was found at the crime scene so anybody who knows or suspects his identity has important information which could convict him.
"There was also a getaway driver and at least two other IRA members involved. They've walked the streets freely since they tried to murder me 12 years ago. It's time they were where they belong – behind bars."
McGartland (41) claimed Northumbria police already know the identity of the Provo assassination team but "political interference at the highest level" meant the suspects would never be brought before the courts.
"It would cause too many problems for Sinn Féin," he said. The West Belfast man who infiltrated the IRA said every time he or supporters asked for details about the Northumbria police investigation, they hit a brick wall.
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests about the attempted murder case were constantly refused, McGartland claimed.
"Northumbria police were asked for the names and rank of officers involved in the investigation and a review of the case, for relevant documents, and for the review's findings," he said.
"They were asked if the shooting was a terrorist attack. They refused to answer, saying requests for this information were 'vexatious'."
But in a major development last week, the Information Commissioner ruled against the police who now have 35 days to deliver answers or explain why they won't.
McGartland alleged the force had never been interested in finding his assailants. After his shooting the press were wrongly briefed it was the result of a drugs' feud rather than an IRA attack.
The gun used by the hit team and 38 rounds of live ammunition were later recovered by Northumbrian police. They also have a taped answer-phone message left by a man with a Glaswegian accent who made a call about a van used in the shooting.
The getaway car – as well as spent cartridges and DNA from the scene – were all found. "The police have all the clues they need to solve my case," McGartland said.
"People have been charged and convicted when far less evidence has been available. The political will just isn't there in my case.
"So my friends are offering a reward for information if people contact us directly. We'll pass the details onto the police ourselves. That way we'll know exactly what information detectives have and we can monitor what they do with it."
The PSNI has repeatedly refused to tell McGartland if the gun and live ammunition abandoned by the IRA unit are linked to previous attacks in Northern Ireland.
His FOI requests have been refused on the grounds of "national security". But sources told Sunday World that the same batch of home-made bullets were used in the IRA murder of drugs' baron Brendan Speedy Fegan in Newry.
Fegan was gunned down in a bar a month before McGartland was shot and seriously wounded in England. Some members of the IRA unit involved in shooting McGartland were from Glasgow.
Known as Agent Carol, McGartland was recruited by RUC Special Branch when he was 17. His cover was blown in 1991 when he was abducted by the IRA, tied up, and held in a flat in Twinbrook.
But he escaped by asking to go to the toilet, then jumping out the bathroom window. He fell 40ft to the ground but survived. He was re-settled by the intelligence services in England.
