Court rules ex-Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams can be sued by IRA victims

Judge rules that former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams can be personally sued by IRA victims. Credit: PA

Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams can be personally sued by IRA victims, the High Court in London has ruled.

The Provisional IRA (PIRA) cannot be sued for compensation by bombing victims, but legal action against Gerry Adams will continue.

Three men injured in IRA bombings in England in the 70s and 90s are seeking £1 damages for “vindicatory purposes”.

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 Mr Adams was a leading member of the PIRA on those dates.

They claim Mr Adams “acted together with others in furtherance of a common design to bomb the British mainland” and was “directly responsible” for decisions made to place devices.

Mr Adams has consistently refuted claims that he was a member of the terror organisation.

At a hearing in London last year, he denied the allegations and asked the judge to throw out the claims against the PIRA and him as a representative.

In a ruling on Friday, Mr Justice Soole concluded that the legal action against the PIRA must be “struck out” because it was “an unincorporated association” and “not a legal entity” that could be sued.

The judge said the bombing victims could not sue Mr Adams as a PIRA representative but claims against him in a personal capacity will continue.

Allegations that Mr Adams was one of PIRA’s “leaders” was an issue to be determined at trial, Mr Justice Soole said.

Lawyers for the three bombing victims had argued that Mr Adams should be considered a representative of a group who “were members of the PIRA or its Army Council between 1973 and 1996”.

Mr Justice Soole, noted the difficulties of bringing action against a “secretive proscribed organisation”.

He said the bombing victims’ legal team had failed to identify “a coherent class of defendants with ‘the same interest’”.

At the hearing in November, Anne Studd KC, representing the three men, said Mr Adams was seeking to “close down any public hearing in which his membership” of the PIRA “might be evidenced and established”.

The claim against the Provisional IRA should be allowed to progress because there was “a public interest in having these issues ventilated”, she said.

Richard Hermer KC, for Mr Adams, said the PIRA was “incapable in law of being sued” and that the “representative” aspects of claims should be struck out.

The barrister told the judge nothing he said on behalf of Mr Adams was intended to “deny or minimise” the claimants’ experiences or suffering.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.