BBC expected to appeal Gerry Adams defamation finding as legal bill set to hit €3m

Sunday World

2 days ago

The former Sinn Féin president was awarded €100,000 in damages over the contents of a BBC Spotlight programme and BBC website article which a jury found meant he had sanctioned and approved the murder of informer Denis Donaldson.
Director of BBC Northern Ireland Adam Smyth, with producer Imelda Lynch (left) and journalist Jennifer O'Leary (right) outside the High Court in Dublin. Photo: PA
Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams outside the High Court in Dublin after he was awarded €100,000 in damages against the BBC. Photo: PA
The BBC is likely to appeal a jury finding that it defamed Gerry Adams as it faces a potential legal bill of €3m after losing the High Court action.
The former Sinn Féin president was awarded €100,000 in damages over the contents of a BBC Spotlight programme and BBC website article which a jury found meant he had sanctioned and approved the murder of informer Denis Donaldson.
Following the verdict, Mr Adams said he took the case to put 'manners' on the BBC, but he faced sharp criticism from the Donaldson family for bringing the action to trial.
In a statement, it claimed Mr Adams had 'prioritised his own financial and reputational interests over any regard for retraumatising' the family.
As our legal team made clear, if the BBC's case cannot be won under existing Irish defamation law, it is hard to see how anyone's could
The corporation has yet to make an official comment about a potential appeal, but an informed source told the Irish Independent it was actively assessing its options in respect of challenging the verdict.
Director of BBC Northern Ireland, Adam Smyth, said the implications of the jury's decision were 'profound' and that the BBC's lawyers had warned it would hinder freedom of expression.
'As our legal team made clear, if the BBC's case cannot be won under existing Irish defamation law, it is hard to see how anyone's could,' he said.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Alexander Owens, said he could not think of a reason why Mr Adams should not be awarded his costs against the BBC, but will hear submissions on the issue next Tuesday.
Mr Justice Alexander Owens. Photo: PA
Each side in the case, which ran for just over four weeks, is thought to have legal costs of around €1.5m.
In relation to the cost of the case, Mr Smyth said: '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.'
Appeal grounds are likely to include a ruling made by the judge which meant the BBC was unable to call witnesses to testify from their own specific knowledge of events that Mr Adams was a senior IRA leader. Mr Adams has always denied the claim.
Instead the BBC was restricted to only calling evidence that Mr Adams' general reputation was that of an IRA leader.
A further ground of appeal is likely to be that the jury was asked to consider whether the words complained of were published 'in good faith'.
The jury found that they weren't.
But the BBC contended the question should not have been put to the jury as it was not an issue pressed by Mr Adams' side in the trial.
The quantum of damages, in circumstances where Mr Adams admitted his reputation was that of an IRA leader, is also viewed as a potential ground.
Speaking outside the court, Mr Adams said he 'very happy' and that from his perspective, 'taking this case was about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation'.
Director of BBC Northern Ireland Adam Smyth, with producer Imelda Lynch (left) and journalist Jennifer O'Leary (right) outside the High Court in Dublin. Photo: PA
Mr Adams claimed the BBC 'upholds the ethos of the British state in Ireland' and, in his view, was 'out of sync on many, many fronts with the Good Friday Agreement'.
Mr Adams also said he was very mindful of the Donaldson family during the trial and called on Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan to meet with them.
However, Mr Donaldson's daughter Jane hit out at Mr Adams.
Her father, a former IRA man and Sinn Féin administrator in Stormont, was shot dead at a remote cottage in Glenties, Co Donegal in April 2006, four months after it was revealed he had been an informer for police and MI5 since the 1980s.
No one has ever been brought to justice and Mr Adams has denied any knowledge or involvement in the murder.
Jane Donaldson was called as a witness by the BBC but this was objected to by Mr Adams' lawyers and the judge ruled that the jury would not hear her evidence.
She called for an urgent official inquiry into her father's murder.
In a statement on behalf of the family, Ms Donaldson said: 'By reducing events which damaged our lives to a debate about damage to his reputation, the plaintiff has trivialised our family tragedy.'
In the Spotlight programme, a former British agent within Sinn Féin and the IRA, known only as Martin, said he believed Mr Adams sanctioned the murder.
The BBC did not argue this was true and said it was only presented as an allegation published 'in good faith'.