Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams criticises 'show trial' as IRA bombing victims withdraw damages claim against him

Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has called a High Court case a "show trial" at times, after three victims of Provisional IRA bombings in England discontinued their damages claim against him.

The decision to end the legal challenge came on Friday, the last day of a two-week trial in London in which Mr Adams had said he had "no involvement whatsoever" in the bombings and was never a member of the Provisional IRA.

He was being sued for a token £1 in damages by three claimants who were injured in the 1970s and 1990s.

Barry Laycock, who was caught up in the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester, said he was "completely devastated" at the decision to discontinue the case, based on a legal argument about whether the claim was an "abuse of process".

The other two claimants were John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London and Jonathan Ganesh, a 1996 London Docklands bombing victim.

Anne Studd KC, who was representing the victims, had claimed that on ​the balance of probabilities none of the attacks "took place without the knowledge and agreement" of Mr Adams - a claim which he strongly denied.

He accused opponents of Sinn Fein, of which he was president from 1983 to 2018, of having "repeatedly sought to conflate" the party with the Provisional IRA, stressing that they are "separate organisations".

His lawyer, Edward Craven KC, told the court that the evidence against Mr Adams was "extremely limited and we say bordering on non-existent".

Mr Craven suggested that the victims were trying to have a "public inquiry-style" hearing into finding historical truths. He argued the claim should be dismissed for being brought too late and could constitute an abuse of the court system.

Law firm McCue Jury and Partners, which represented the three men, said in a statement that its clients had shown "considerable courage" and the outcome "does not represent a victory for Mr Adams, but the reverse".

It added that allegations of an abuse of process had not arisen until Thursday, in what it called an "extraordinary and, in our client's view, unnecessary late intervention by the court".

It added the issue had been "expressly disavowed" by a judge in a preliminary hearing in the claim.

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In their evidence, the bombing victims said they did not bring claims earlier as they did not realise they could do so, could not afford to, were suffering from mental or physical injuries and feared violent reprisals.

In a statement on Friday, Mr Adams welcomed the end of the claim, saying it "brings to an emphatic end a case that should never have been brought", but added he had "nothing but sympathy" for the claimants.

He said he had been "moved by the testimony" of those hurt in the bombings. He added: "Family members of mine have been killed, I've been shot myself, so I know what it's like."

He told reporters in Belfast: "At times it verged upon a show trial, anonymous secret agents of the British state hiding behind the screen, others who were up to their necks in the subversion that the British state visited upon people of this part of the island of Ireland."

Mr Adams also confirmed he would be paying his own legal bill "supported by friends". He added: "I was never going to make an effort to burden the claimants with my legal bill."

Mr Adams, who became ​leader of Sinn Fein ‌in 1983, was for many years the best-known face of the movement seeking to ​end British rule ⁠in Northern Ireland.

(c) Sky News 2026: Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams criticises 'show trial' as IRA bombing victims withdraw damages claim against him