£20,000 reward offered for information leading to conviction of man responsible for death of Robert Hart

Robert Hart and E-fit

A reward of £20,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the man responsible for the death of Robert Hart.

Robert, 26, died last Wednesday afternoon after being subjected to an assault by an unknown man at the Parklife Weekender Festival at Heaton Park on Saturday 7 June 2014.

Now Parklife organisers have offered a £20,000 reward for anyone who is able to provide significant information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the man responsible.

The offender is described as a mixed race male, aged in his late 20's and around 6ft 1 tall. He has a muscular build and short, dark hair which was shaved at the sides. He was also wearing shorts and a blue, bomber-style jacket with the letter 'A' in white on the front.

Police have also issued an efit.

Detective Inspector Richard Eales said: “Over the past week, we have been carrying out a thorough and significant police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack and subsequent death of Robert Hart.

“While we have been pursuing a number of lines of inquiry, we believe that there are still people out there who have information that can help us identify this man.

“Parklife organisers have already been assisting us thoroughly with this operation, and now they have kindly offered this significant amount of money in a further bid to catch the man responsible for Robert’s tragic death.

“It is very unlikely that this man went to a festival on his own.

“Someone out there was with this man when the attack happened, or knows something that will help us identify him.

“Please do not shield this man with your silence, he does not deserve the protection you are offering him at the moment.

"This reward is only for information in relation to the attack of Robert Hart. At this moment in time there is no link between the assault of Robert and the pictures being circulated on social media which show a man being kicked in the head.

"They are unrelated incidents and we are concentrating solely on the attack of Robert, which occurred in front of the main stage at around 9.15pm on the Saturday evening."

Parklife organisers added: “Tomorrow marks a week since the sad passing of Robert Hart and our thoughts continue to be with his family, who have been going through unthinkable pain since then.

“From the start we believed that, out of the 70,000 people at the festival, there must have been one person who knows who was responsible for this cowardly act.

“After careful consultation with GMP, who have in turn been supporting the family, we are now able to offer £20,000 for information which leads the authorities to identifying the attacker and convicting him for the crime.

“The response from the public in support of the family has been overwhelming so far. Please, if you have any information that can help, please call Police on the numbers below.

“We will not stop until the offender is caught. RIP Robert Hart.

“Sacha, Sam, Jon and The Parklife Team.”

Anyone with information can contact the incident room direct on 0161 85 69283 or email the incident room on mit.syndicate8@gmp.police.uk with any relevant footage.

Alternatively you can call police on 101 or independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.