Gerry Adams court case dropped: Victims of Provisional IRA bombings in England withdraw their damages claim against former Sinn Fein president
Three victims of Provisional IRA bombings in England have dropped compensation claims against former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, his legal team told the Supreme Court.
Adams was sued for £1 damages by three people injured in explosions in the 1970s and 1990s.
John Clark, victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London; 1996 London Docklands bombing victim Jonathan Ganesh; and Barry Laycock, the victim of the Arndale shopping center bombing in Manchester in 1996, claimed that Mr Adams was a leading member of the Provisional IRA, including the Army Council, at the time.
Adams denied the allegations and defended the claim; He told the court earlier this week that he was ‘in no way involved’ in the bombings and had never been a member of the Provisional IRA.
On Friday, the last day of the two-week trial, Anne Studd KC, acting on behalf of the victims, told the High Court that the claim would be stayed ‘without any decision being made on costs’ after ‘the proceedings developed overnight’.
Judge Jonathan Swift said: ‘The claim is stayed and there is no order as to costs.’
He later added: ‘A lot of work has been done [to the case] and I appreciate that.’
Mr. Adams was not in court Friday.
Gerry Adams was not in court today to hear the plaintiffs drop their civil lawsuit against him after a two-week hearing. Pictured is Adams leaving court yesterday
In written evidence for the hearing, Ms Studd said the three men claimed none of the bombings took place “without his knowledge and consent” because of Adams’ role in the Provisional IRA and its seven-man Army Council.
In his statement, Adams said that opponents of Sinn Fein, which he chaired from 1983 to 2018, had “repeatedly tried to unite” the party with the Provisional IRA, and emphasized that these were “separate organisations”.
He continued that he had ‘no involvement or prior knowledge’ of any bombings and ‘has never been a member of the IRA or its Army Council’.
Edward Craven KC, for Adams, told the court in his closing statement that the evidence of Adams’ involvement in the bombings was ‘extremely limited and almost non-existent’.
He also said the allegations were brought forward too late, years later.
The three men said in their statements that the reason they did not file a claim before was because they did not know they could, they could not afford it, they were suffering mental or physical injuries and they feared violent reprisals.
