£5,000 reward offered for on-the-run murderer released on licence from NI prison

PSNI appeals for information on Thomas McCabe who has been at large for more than two years

An award of £5,000 has been offered for information that would lead to the arrest of an on-the-run convicted murderer.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) on Monday appealed for anyone with information about 56-year-old Thomas McCabe to bring it forward.

The independent charity Crimestoppers also has offered a £5,000 reward for information that would result in his arrest.

McCabe was convicted 30 years ago of the murder of 16-year-old Richard Hunt whom he beat to death with a scaffold pole in London in 1990.

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In a drunken state McCabe attacked the teenager when he came home to find him with his girlfriend. Mr Hunt however was just in the house to help with decorating.

McCabe was sentenced in England but sent back to Northern Ireland to serve out his sentence.

PSNI Det Constable Julie McVeagh explained that McCabe, who was sentenced to life for murder, was released from prison on licence. “However following a number of breaches his licence was revoked in January 2018. Since then we have conducted a number of detailed enquiries to establish McCabe’s whereabouts but unfortunately at this time he remains at large,” she said.

McCabe is described as about 1.7 m tall ( 5' 8"), of medium build with short grey coloured hair. "We believe he has connections to Newry, Newtownabbey and Dublin," said Det Constable McVeagh.

The officer appealed for McCabe to “hand himself in”.

A spokesperson for Crimestoppers said: “Our charity is appealing to anybody with information on Mr McCabe’s location to do the right thing and to tell us what you know, 100 per cent anonymously. What you tell us can make all of the difference.”

The spokesperson said that it was “important to remind people that assisting somebody wanted for questioning over a crime can lead to prosecution”.

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty is the former Northern editor of The Irish Times