Gerry Adams says withdrawn UK civil case against him ‘verged on show trial’

LAST UPDATE | 9 hrs ago

GERRY ADAMS HAS said a civil case taken against him by three victims of Provisional IRA bombings that was discontinued today “verged upon a show trial”.

 John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London; Jonathan Ganesh, a 1996 London Docklands bombing victim; and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester, had all alleged that Adams was a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates, including of its Army Council, and had sought £1 in damages.

Adams told the court in London during the two-week trial that he had “no involvement whatsoever” in the bombings and was never a member of the Provisional IRA, with his lawyers claiming the case should be thrown out as an abuse of the court system.

Today, the last day of the trial, Anne Studd KC, for the victims, told the UK High Court the claim against Adams had been “discontinued” with “no order as to costs” after “proceedings developed overnight”.

She continued that the development was “related” to an argument around “abuse of process”, but was then stopped by the judge, Justice Swift, who said: “Whatever statement your clients may wish to make outside court is entirely a matter for them.”

“I am happy to make an order in the terms the parties have agreed,” he continued.

‘Deeply unfair’

In a statement after the case concluded, law firm McCue Jury and Partners, which represented the three men, said the discontinuation of the case “does not represent a victory for Mr Adams, but the reverse”.

It also said that the claim being discontinued was the result of “an extraordinary and, in our clients’ view, unnecessary late intervention by the court”, and that Adams had offered to settle the case.

“For whatever reasoning, the court unexpectedly directed at the final stages of the trial that it wished to consider whether the proceedings might amount to an abuse of process, even though this had been dealt with two years ago,” the statement read. 

“The trial judge’s decision to raise this issue, resulted, for the first time, in a real risk that the claimants – vulnerable victims of terrorism – could face devastating personal liability for legal costs”, they said, adding that a finding of abuse of process would remove the claimants’ costs protection and require them to pay Adams his full legal costs.

“Due to this extraordinary series of events, and faced with even a small risk of life-changing financial consequences, the claimants had no realistic choice but to accept the defendant’s offer.”

The statement concluded: “The claimants consider this deeply unfair. They have spent years preparing their case, at significant personal cost.”

Adams, who was not in court today, has welcomed the decision, saying it “brings to an emphatic end a case that should never have been brought”. 

“I contested this case and defended myself against the smears and false accusations being levelled against me. I asserted the legitimacy of the Republican cause and the right of the people of Ireland to freedom and self-determination. I do so again.”

He noted that he had rejected the claims throughout the court proceedings. 

“I am glad to have been one of those who helped bring an end to the conflict,” Adams said.

“We now have, through the Good Friday Agreement, a peaceful and democratic route to a new Ireland. That needs a renewed focus, especially by the Irish government. An Ireland that is respectful of all of its people and that is based on equality, tolerance and respect.”

He thanked the people who had “expressed their solidarity with me and the Sinn Féin team”. 

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‘Verged on a show trial’

Speaking to media this afternoon in Belfast, Adams said he had “nothing but sympathy” for the claimants that had given evidence against him.

“I was moved by the testimony of the two people, the two men, who came forward and told of their own personal difficulties and circumstances within the explosions and following the explosions,” he said.

“Family members of mine have been killed, I’ve been shot myself, so I know what it’s like.”

He added: “At times it verged upon a show trial, anonymous secret agents of the British state hiding behind the screen, others who were up to their necks in the subversion that the British state visited upon people of this part of the island of Ireland.

“Many members of the intelligence services who have been found responsible for collusion and others not by anyone other than the British government’s own commissions and inquiries and investigations.”

Asked about comments from lawyers representing the claimants that the case was “not a victory”, Adams said: “I am not even going to comment on that, I never claimed it to be a victory.”

He also confirmed he would be paying his own legal bill “supported by friends”, adding: “I was never going to make an effort to burden the claimants with my legal bill.”

Barry Laycock, one of the men who took the case against Adams, said he is “completely devastated” by the outcome.

“The fair trial we sought, getting Mr Adams into the dock for the first time, was achieved. But somehow we have lost our protection. How is that fair on me or all the victims who deserve justice?

He added: “We can all hold our heads up high. Our team have worked tirelessly and achieved something that successive governments have failed to do.”

Evidence ‘bordering on non-existent’

In written submissions for the trial, Studd said that the three men claimed that none of the bombings “took place without the knowledge and agreement” of Adams in his role in the Provisional IRA and of its seven-man Army Council.

She continued that the men believed that Adams was “as involved as the people who planted and detonated those bombs”.

In his evidence, Adams said that opponents of Sinn Féin, of which he was president from 1983 to 2018, “have repeatedly sought to conflate” the party with the Provisional IRA, and stressed that they are “separate organisations”.

He continued that he had “no involvement in or advance knowledge of” any of the bombings, and was “never a member of the IRA or its Army Council”, telling the court on Tuesday that he was “glad that the IRA has left the stage”.

He also said that while he believed in the “broad principle that people have the right to resist occupation”, he was “very, very clear that there were dastardly things that were done that should never have been done”.

Edward Craven KC, for Adams, told the court in London that evidence that Adams was involved in the bombings was “extremely limited and we say bordering on non-existent”.

The barrister also said that the claim should be dismissed for being brought too late, suggesting that the three men were using the claim to try to have a “public inquiry-style” hearing into finding historical truths.

He added: “The desire to establish for the historical record that Mr Adams was a member of the IRA is the purpose that has driven this claim,” adding that this could be an abuse of the court system.

In their evidence, the three men said the reasons they did not bring claims earlier were that they did not realise they could do so, could not afford it, were suffering from mental or physical injuries and feared violent reprisals.

With reporting from David MacRedmond