No charges for Sinn Fein men over Jean McConville murder

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams will not be prosecuted in connection with the IRA murder of Belfast mother-of-10 Jean McConville, Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service has said.

Mr Adams and six others including Sinn Fein's northern chairman Bobby Storey, will not face any charges.

Adams has always denied any involvement in the murder, and criticised the reasons behind his arrest last year.

The PPS made the announcement after reviewing police files on the seven individuals reported to them by detectives investigating the 1972 murder.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Pamela Atchison said: "

Mrs McConville was abducted and secretly executed by a 12-strong gang of IRA men and women in 1972. She had been wrongly accused of being an informant for British security forces.

Her body was not found until 2003, when a storm uncovered her remains on a beach in County Louth.

PPS officials outlined the non-prosecution decisions to Mrs McConville's son Michael this morning.

He said the family's quest for justice would go on.

"Those who ordered, planned and carried out this war crime thought that their guilt could disappear along with her body," he said.

"But it has not and we will continue to seek justice for our mother and see those responsible held to account no matter how long it takes".