Gerry Adams in London court to reject allegations and assert 'legitimacy of the republican cause'

GERRY ADAMS HAS said he came to the UK High Court in London “to reject the allegations” of him being behind three IRA bombings in England and “to assert the legitimacy of the republican cause”.

He commented after giving evidence in the legal action he is defending against three men who were injured in the bombings.

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, all allege that Adams was a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates, including of its Army Council, and are seeking £1 in damages.

The former Sinn Féin president told the court earlier this week that he had “no involvement whatsoever” in the bombings and was never a member of the Provisional IRA.

Speaking towards the end of the trial, out of court, he said: “I’m restricted about what I can say about these proceedings so I will limit myself to reminding you that Irish people have long had a bad experience of British courts, Irish republicans especially.

“However, I came to London to reject the allegations levelled against me.

“And to assert the legitimacy of the republican cause and the right of the people of Ireland to be free.

“I am also here out of respect for the claimants. I am very mindful of the many other victims of the conflict.

“They too deserve our respect. Thankfully the war has been ended.

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“As an Irish republican I am glad that with others, I helped to secure this.”

Edward Craven KC, for Adams, questioned today why the three men took several decades to bring their claim, saying it should be dismissed for being brought too late.

He said to the judge: “In Mr Clark’s case, we are dealing with a delay that is genuinely unprecedented in magnitude.

“We say the very brief and bald hearsay evidence you have been provided with falls a long way short of the kind of explanation that ought to be provided for a delay of this length.”

He also suggested the three men were using the claim to try to have a “public inquiry style” hearing into finding historical truths, and asked the court to focus on the three specific bombings.

The barrister said this could be an abuse of the court system, adding: “One of the concerns we have had throughout is that the claim is being used as a vehicle for a much wider examination of Mr Adams’s alleged role and actions.”

In statements to the court, 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.

Anne Studd KC, for the men, said on Thursday that it would be “unfair” if, after the trial, the case was to be thrown out over an abuse of the court system.

She said: “It is arguable and legally unobjectionable, and these claimants are entitled to pursue it.”

At the start of the trial, she said that a “jigsaw” of evidence from those who knew Adams and those who knew of him would prove the case against him.

That includes intelligence officers working for the British authorities and former IRA volunteers.