Gerry Adams to testify in court over claims he had role in IRA bombings

Gerry Adams is due to take the witness stand in a London court later, as his civil trial on allegations he had a role in major IRA bombing decisions nears an end.

Three men are seeking a High Court ruling that he is personally liable for injuries they received in explosions in London and Manchester.

Mr Justice Swift has heard it claimed Adams was on the IRA army council for 30 years and its "de facto" leader.

Adams, who is 77, "strenuously" denies any involvement in the attacks and has repeatedly rejected claims he was ever in the IRA.

The former Sinn Féin leader is the only witness being called by his defence.

He is due to be questioned by Sir Max Hill KC, a former director of public prosecutions in England and Wales, one of the lawyers acting for the claimants.

The action was brought by John Clark, a victim of the Old Bailey bomb in 1973, and Jonathan Ganesh and Barry Laycock, who were hurt in the 1996 attacks in London's Docklands and at Manchester's Arndale Shopping Centre respectfully.

They are seeking £1 each in "vindicatory" damages.

Adams' lawyers have argued the case is based on "an assortment of hearsay" and that it has been brought several decades too late.

They have said the action should be subject to the three-year limitation period set out in legislation passed in 1980.

"If the issue of limitation is determined in the defendant's favour, then the claim must fail and the court is not required to make any findings in respect of liability," they have stated.

Several former police and Army personnel, called to testify by the claimants, have alleged intelligence material identified Adams as being on the IRA army council from the late 1970s until 2005.

Retired colonel Richard Kemp claimed it was "inconceivable" Adams would not have been involved in authorising the 1996 bombings – the Docklands attack ended the first IRA ceasefire.

It was claimed Adams also had an "instrumental" role in the decision to bomb the Old Bailey in London when he was allegedly a senior IRA figure in Belfast.

The claimants have stated they believe Adams is as culpable as those who planted the bombs.

They raised more than £100,000 through crowdfunding to bring the case.

As a result of a pre-trial ruling, Adams is unable to recover his legal costs from the claimants, believed to be six figures, should he successfully defend the action.

Adams was once charged with IRA membership in 1978, but the case was dropped due to insufficient evidence.

His only Troubles-era convictions, for twice attempting to escape prison while interned without trial in the mid-1970s, were quashed in 2020.

He has been questioned in court before about his alleged IRA past - at the Ballymurphy inquest in Belfast in 2019 and during a libel case against the BBC in Dublin in 2025.