Gerry Adams wins libel case against the BBC

Gerry Adams has won €100,000 (£84,000) in damages over a BBC story about the murder of a British agent.

A court found the former Sinn Féin leader was defamed in a BBC NI Spotlight programme broadcast in 2016 and an accompanying online article, in which an anonymous contributor alleged he sanctioned the 2006 murder of Denis Donaldson.

Mr Adams, 76, denies any involvement.

The 11-person jury came to its findings after six hours and 49 minutes of deliberations at Dublin’s High Court.

The trial at the High Court in Dublin heard four weeks of evidence from 10 witnesses, including Mr Adams and BBC NI reporter Jennifer O’Leary.

The jury had five questions to answer.

The first and second were whether the words in the programme, and accompanying article, “mean Mr Adams sanctioned and approved Denis Donaldson’s murder” – they answered yes to both.

The third and fourth questions related to whether or not the BBC reported the allegations in good faith – the answer to these was no.

The fifth question was about how much money Mr Adams should be awarded. The jury settled on €100,000 (£84,000) in damages.

Mr Adams was the president of republican party Sinn Féin from 1983 until 2018.

He served as MP in his native Belfast West from 1983 to 1992 and again from 1997 until 2011 before sitting as a TD (Teachta Dála) in the Dáil (Irish parliament) between 2011 and 2020.

Mr Adams led the Sinn Féin delegation during peace talks that eventually brought an end to the Troubles after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

He was detained in the early 1970s when the government in Northern Ireland introduced internment without trial for those suspected of paramilitary involvement.

Mr Adams has consistently denied being a member of the IRA.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Adams thanked the court and said he was “very mindful” of the Donaldson family in the course of the trial.

He said taking the case “was about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation”.

“I know many, many journalists. I like to think that I get on well with the most of them and I wish you well and I would uphold your right to do your job,” he said.

“But the British Broadcasting Corporation upholds the ethos of the British state in Ireland and, in my view, it’s out of sync in many, many fronts with the Good Friday Agreement.

“It hasn’t caught on to where we are on this island as part of the process, the continuing process, of building peace and justice and harmony, and hopefully in the time ahead unity.”

Mr Donaldson was once a key figure in Sinn Féin’s rise as a political force in Northern Ireland.

He was found murdered in 2006 after it emerged he had worked for the police and MI5 inside Sinn Féin for 20 years.

In 2009, the Real IRA said it had murdered him.

Mr Adams told reporters the Irish justice minister should meet the family of Mr Donaldson.

“There’s an onus on both governments and everyone else – and I include myself in this – to try and deal with these legacy issues as best that we can,” he said.

Mr Adams’ solicitor, Paul Tweed, called the allegations against his client “totally untrue and defamatory”.

“The BBC Spotlight team should not have included it in their broadcast,” he told reporters.

“Our client is very pleased with this resounding verdict and award of damages which speaks for itself.”

The fact the “false allegation has been left online for nine years” had “undermined the high standards of accuracy that is expected at the BBC”, Mr Tweed said.

“It begs the question whether there has been any political or outside pressure on the BBC to take the stand they have taken.”

The BBC had argued a defence of fair and reasonable reporting on a matter of public interest.

Speaking outside court, Adam Smyth, director of BBC Northern Ireland, said he was disappointed.

“We believe we supplied extensive evidence to the court of the careful editorial process and journalistic diligence applied to this programme and accompanying online article,” he said.

“We didn’t want to come to court, but it was important that we defend our journalism and we stand by that decision,” Mr Smyth added.

“Of course, a case of this importance, duration and complexity involves significant expense. In common with other media organisations the BBC has insurance and makes financial provision for ongoing and anticipated legal claims.”

The legal bill for Gerry Adams versus the BBC is believed to be between €3-5 million (£2.5-4.2m), according to sources with knowledge of the case.

It is understood to be have been one of the most expensive cases the corporation has ever fought.

Jury trials are usually longer – and therefore more expensive – than those held in front of a judge acting alone.

The Republic of Ireland is in the process of overhauling its defamation laws, including the elimination of jury trials in High Court defamation cases.

In Northern Ireland, there has been “a presumption against jury trials” in libel cases since 2022.

Mr Justice Alexander Owens blocked three people appearing as witnesses, including Denis Donaldson’s daughter who wanted to testify as part of the BBC’s defence.

However, the judge ruled what she intended to say was irrelevant in respect of what the jury had to consider.

The BBC also wanted to call Austin Stack, whose father Brian, a prison officer, was fatally wounded in an IRA gun attack in Dublin in 1983.

It also attempted to call Eunan O’Halpin, a professor of contemporary Irish history at Trinity College, Dublin.

BBC NI Spotlight reporter Jennifer O’Leary thanked the legal team involved in “defending the BBC’s journalism”, and the BBC’s witnesses in court.

“I said in the witness box that I had nothing to hide, only sources to protect, and I want to thank them for trusting me,” she said.