A hero in his own time with the marks to prove it

THE man whose crime-fighting work while head of the state’s forensic science lab nearly cost him his life will be honoured tonight for bravery.

Dr Jim Donovan endured threats and intimidation while director of the lab and survived two car bomb attacks planned by Martin “The General” Cahill, one of which left him with devastating injuries — he still suffers excruciating pain and bleeding from injuries sustained in a 1982 attack.

However, despite the physical and emotional pain and constant Garda protection, he feels very proud of his work establishing and developing what is a crucial element of the State’s crime-fighting machinery.