THREE days after the sensational verdict in the Gerry Adams versus BBCNI libel trial, journalists, legal experts and observers are still trying to make sense of the outcome of the biggest defamation case ever heard on the island of Ireland.
While Mr Adams and his team continue to party in the Felons and the PD, senior management at the BBC, both in Belfast and London, are considering whether to accept the finding of the €4.5 million trial, or whether to appeal and round it up to €6 million.
We've been doing a deep dive into the pros and cons of a BBCNI appeal – and we've been looking in particular at those aspects of the trial which the BBC believe decided the case in Adams' favour. After speaking to a vast range of sources (© BBCNI), we've identified five key areas in which BBCNI failed to get a fair shake.
1. Juries are thick. Especially them Paddy ones.
The jury concept has its place, but that place is not in a libel trial. 12 men good and true (and some lovely laydeez these days too) are fine for a murder trial like, say, that one up the north coast involving the Dirty Dentist and the Black Widow. They can hand out lengthy sentences and they can even handle some technical evidence, as long as it’s presented in pastel colours on a big screen in words of no more than three syllables. But let’s be honest here: They wouldn’t know defamation from vulgar abuse if one or the other was to bite them on the arse. If only the case had been heard by a single judge, preferably one of those Diplock ones who used to send uppity republicans down for life in six hours with a break for lunch. They might be old and doddery, but unlike that tattooed and bearded jury of secretly vaping Dublin youngsters, they understand complicated words and concepts like ‘source’ and ‘proof’.
2. Witnesses were hobbled.
BBCNI’s case may not have been perfect, but all right-thinking people agree that the roster of witnesses put together by the Beeb to bolster its innovative legal defence based on the obscure legal doctrine of ‘Gerardus Beardus Bastardus’ made a profound impression on the jury. One witness in particular had some of the jury close to tears when they described how they had looked on in horror as Gerry Adams failed to empty his tray into the big bin at McDonald’s. “He just walked off and left a member of staff to clear the table. I just remember the coldness in his eyes as he wiped chocolate milkshake off his specs."
OATH: Uncalled witnesses were a grave blow to BBCNI
Another witness, host of the popular podcast ‘I Hate Buckybeard’s Guts’, said they had been standing at a bus stop once when a passer-by was heard to remark to a Translink inspector’s assistant that Gerry Adams had indeed been a member of Whiterock Library, despite his repeated denials. And we can reveal that among the witnesses to whom the judge denied a hearing was a bloke interned with Gerry Adams in the early 70s who would swear that Adams stole his snout. Yet another witness the jury was not allowed to hear was due to identify Gerry Adams as the man who put the figs in fig rolls. A jury source who we’ll call X said: “These new witnesses would have changed the course of this trial. If we’d heard the evidence that you’re now telling me, Gerry Adams' holiday home in Donegal would be in a Letterkenny estate agent's window.”
• This article has been updated to reflect that 28 more unnamed witnesses have confirmed X’s analysis.
3. Innocent victims.
Had the jury thought about the innocent victims of the Troubles during the trial, in the way that so many politicians here did after the trial, there’s no doubt this case would have had a very different outcome. As the full implications of the shock verdict began to hit home, one party after another joined the line to remember the innocent victims they had inexplicably forgotten for the previous five weeks:
“I’m remembering all the innocent victims without mentioning Gerry Adams because it’s quite a clever way to get at him without m’learned friends getting involved.”
“I’m remembering all the innocent victims without mentioning Gerry Adams because I’m buckin’ ragin’ and I have to say something. At the same time I don’t want to ‘Do a BBCNI’, as the young people are now calling it, and lose my house and pension.”
“I’m remembering all the innocent victims without mentioning Gerry Adams because it’s midnight, I’m eight cans in and I’ve been hearing about that beardy bastard winning a fortune for 12 hours now.”
4. The dog that didn’t bark.
It’s only now after the trial has ended that we can reveal the contents of a secret note left on our doorstep with the milk before the trial began which would have been catastrophic for Gerry Adams’ case. We decided not to to publish the contents of the note for fear of compromising the trial, but now that it’s over and we’re absolutely rippin’ it, we’re revealing what it contains so that a wider appreciation of the issues at stake can be arrived at and so that we can stop kicking the vending machine for a while. “You haven’t paid me for March and April,” reads the note in a clear reference to Gerry Adams’ role in some of the most notorious Troubles incidents. The publication of the note during the trial, said one legal expert, would have placed a bomb underneath the Adams case. With no warning. The message goes on: “Please note you ordered an extra two litres of semi-skimmed and a half-litre of full-fat as well as half a dozen yoghurts in April.” Insiders say this is the most compelling evidence yet that Gerry Adams was indeed in the IRA, despite his repeated denials. The sensational note ends: “Please place money in a waterproof bag underneath the potted geranium at the front door. Stevie. xx.” Our legal source added: “If BBC Ulster has any doubts about appealing this should blow them out of the water.”
5. Jury direction.
Legal academics we’ve spoken to have unanimously expressed surprise that Mr Justice Alexander Owens instructed the jury to ignore evidence in relation to events in Gerry Adams’ life before the 1798 Rebellion. In a direction that raised eyebrows in court, the judge said: “You have heard evidence today about Mr Adams’ alleged involvement in the lighting of bonfires to guide the Luftwaffe into Belfast in 1941. I must point out to you that this is, to say the least, speculative. Furthermore, while credit card transactions prove beyond peradventure that Gerry Adams was staying in the Holiday Inn Whitechapel at key dates between 1888 and 1891, it falls to me to point out that no evidence was presented that placed him at the scene of any prostitute murders.
EVIDENCE: The shooting of Dallas oil tycoon JR Ewing is another Adams enigma
Finally, while the defence’s argument against my decision is well made, I am instructing the jury to disregard claims made in this court that Gerry Adams fired the shots which critically injured JR Ewing in his office in Ewing Oil, downtown Dallas in November 1980. Mr Dusty Farlow gave evidence that he loaned a six-shooter to Mr Adams, but Mr Farlow’s reprehensible part in the descent of Sue-Ellen Ewing into alcoholism precludes him from being considered a reliable witness. Pamela Barnes Ewing, meanwhile, has given vivid testimony to the effect that Mr Adams told her in the cocktail lounge of the Dallas Hilton two days before the shooting: ‘Ah’m fixin’ to take care of that ornery critter JR and ain’t nobody gonna git in mah way.’ Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, how convenient is it that Mrs Barnes Ewing is pointing the finger at Mr Adams, while her scheming brother, Cliff Barnes, remains the number one suspect of the Dallas PD?”
Tomorrow: The question that stunned BBCNI execs want answered: 'Where were Kneecap while the jury deliberated?'
