The BBC defamed Gerry Adams by publishing a claim that he sanctioned the murder of a British agent, a High Court jury has found, awarding the former Sinn Féin leader €100,000 in damages to restore his reputation.
Mr Adams had claimed the 2016 Spotlight programme and a related article defamed him by falsely accusing him of giving “the final say” in the murder of MI5 informant Denis Donaldson by dissidents at a cottage in Glenties, Co Donegal, in 2006. Mr Adams described the allegation during the trial as a “grievous smear”.
The BBC had denied defaming Mr Adams.
The jury agreed, as Mr Adams pleaded, that words published in the programme and article were understood to mean he sanctioned and approved the murder. The broadcaster argued the claim against Mr Adams was couched as an allegation.
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The jury rejected the BBC’s defence that the publication of the allegation was fair, reasonable and in the public interest.
The jury decided Mr Adams should be awarded €100,000 to vindicate and restore his reputation following the defamation.
The verdict came on Friday, the 21st day of the case, which opened on April 29th. The jury spent about seven hours deliberating.
Speaking outside court, Mr Adams said taking the case was about “putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation”.
“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,” he said. “It hasn’t caught on to where we are on this island as part of the continuing process of building peace and justice and harmony and hopefully in the time ahead unity.”
In a statement after the decision, the BBC said the verdict has “profound” implications and “could hinder freedom of expression”. On behalf of the organisation, Adam Smyth, director of BBC Northern Ireland, thanked the jury but expressed disappointment with the outcome.
“We believe we supplied extensive evidence to the court of the careful editorial process and journalistic diligence applied,” 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 ... If the BBC’s case cannot be won under existing Irish defamation law, it’s hard to see how anyone’s could.”
BBC Spotlight reporter Jennifer O’Leary said she had “nothing to hide, only sources to protect”.
Mr Justice Alexander Owens had told the jury that at least nine members must agree on the verdict.
The judge had asked the jury to decide the meaning of the words complained of in the programme and article based on how a “reasonable viewer” would interpret them.
If the jury believed the words meant Mr Adams sanctioned the murder, it was then to consider the BBC’s defence of fair and reasonable publication. The onus of proof in this defence was on the BBC, he said.
If it rejected this defence, the judge said the jury must consider the amount of damages to award Mr Adams as compensation for the damage done to his reputation.
Mr Adams’s lawyers argued that he had the reputation of a “peacemaker” and of helping to end violence in Northern Ireland.
The BBC claimed Mr Adams’s case is a “cynical attempt” to “launder” a reputation for being in the Provisional IRA and sitting on its decision-making body, known as the army council.
The judge previously told the jury members they should only consider Mr Adams’s reputation in the Republic of Ireland.
He said they were not being asked what they think about Mr Adams or whether they approve of him. “You decide what the evidence is in relation to his reputation.”
