Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has won a defamation action against the BBC over a Spotlight documentary that alleged he sanctioned the murder of an MI5 informant. A jury at Dublin's High Court on Friday awarded him €100,000 (£84,000) in damages after finding that the broadcaster had not acted in good faith or in a fair and reasonable manner.
The case centred on a 2016 BBC Spotlight programme and accompanying online article which claimed Mr Adams had sanctioned the killing of Denis Donaldson, a former Sinn Féin official who was shot dead in County Donegal in 2006 after admitting he had been a police and MI5 informant. The allegation was made by an anonymous source known only as 'Martin'. Mr Adams's lawyers described the claim as a 'grievous smear' and a 'hatchet job'.
The jury determined that the words in the documentary meant Mr Adams had sanctioned the murder, rather than being presented merely as an allegation, as the BBC had argued. It also found that the BBC had not proved its defence of 'fair publication'. Justice Alexander Owens had instructed the jury not to decide on the truth of the allegation itself, but only on the meaning of the words used.
Speaking outside court, Mr Adams said the case was about 'putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation', which he accused of upholding 'the ethos of the British state in Ireland' and being out of sync with the Good Friday Agreement. He denied ever being a member of the IRA, stating: 'It wasn't a path that I took.'
The BBC defended the documentary, arguing that the claim was presented as an allegation and had been corroborated by five other sources, including the security services. Lawyers for the broadcaster suggested that because Mr Adams was widely considered to have been an IRA commander, he had little reputation to lose, and any damages would be a 'cruel joke'. The total cost of the trial is estimated to exceed several million euros.
