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Gerry Adams will not face charges over Jean McConville murder Gerry Adams will not face charges over Jean McConville murder
(about 1 hour later)
Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin leader, will not face any charges in connection with one of the most controversial murders of Northern Ireland’s Troubles – the abduction, murder and secret burial of Jean McConville. The family of Jean McConville have vowed to pursue Gerry Adams through the civil courts after Northern Irish prosecutors confirmed the Sinn Féin leader will not face any criminal charges over the murder of their mother by the IRA more than 40 years ago.
The Public Prosecution Service in the region confirmed on Tuesday it had taken a decision not to prosecute seven individuals in relation to the McConville killing, which was the most notorious of the “disappeared”. McConville, 37, was abducted, killed and buried in secret by the IRA in 1972 in one of the most notorious murders of the Troubles. She was one of 16 people accused of working as informants for the security forces who became known as “the missing” because their bodies were never found.
She was one of 16 people the IRA murdered and whose bodies were hidden, after being accused of working as informants for the security forces. The PPS in Belfast confirmed on Tuesday that it would not be prosecuting seven people in relation to the killing of McConville, who had 10 children.
The seven – three men aged 57, 59 and 66, along with four women aged 58, 59, 59 and 61 – include Adams, who has always denied he gave the order to “disappear” the widowed mother of ten in 1972. The seven – three men aged 57, 59 and 66, along with four women aged 58, 59, 59 and 61 – include Adams, who has always denied he gave the order to “disappear” the widower in 1972. Another of those believed to be among the seven is Bobby Storey, a senior Belfast republican and close aide to Adams.
Another of those believed to be among the seven is Bobby Storey, a senior Belfast republican and close aide to Adams. Northern Ireland’s deputy director of public prosecutions, Pamela Atchison, said: “We have given careful consideration to the evidence currently available in respect of each of the three men and four women reported and have concluded that it is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction against any of them for a criminal offence.”
The deputy director of public prosecutions, Pamela Atchison, said: “We have given careful consideration to the evidence currently available in respect of each of the three men and four women reported and have concluded that it is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction against any of them for a criminal offence.” However, Helen McKendry, Jean McConville’s daughter, and her husband Seamus, one of the original campaigners for the “disappeared”, told the Guardian they were “disappointed but not surprised” over the PPS decision.
The evidence that led to Adams’ arrest last year, as well as the other six, was partly based on the Boston College tapes. These were a series of recorded testimonies from IRA and loyalist paramilitary veterans that were to form a historic archive about the armed campaigns of the Troubles. “We accept the course of justice and the decision even though the IRA never gave thought for justice for Jean. We would rather have the criminal case not going ahead like that than for it to collapse in court. However today is the beginning of a new fight for justice through a civil action against Mr Adams. The PPS decision gives us the green light to start that campaign through the civil courts.
“When we first raised the possibility of a civil case we were contacted by lots of people who offered financial support as we don’t expect legal aid. We would know as all those people to back us now in building a case with our legal team towards a civil action,” the couple said.
Related: Northern Ireland police win latest round in battle to hear Boston College tapesRelated: Northern Ireland police win latest round in battle to hear Boston College tapes
The Police Service of Northern Ireland pursued taped interviews they claimed contained knowledge of the McConville murder and disappearance through the US courts system. But after examining files sent by the PSNI to the PPS in the case of the seven, including Adams, Atchison said there was insufficient evidence to continue the investigation. Adams said the PPS decision was long overdue . “There was never any real basis for questioning me in respect of this case,” he said after Wednesday’s announcement. “I played no act or part in Jean McConville’s death. I support the PSNI. But the timing of my arrest showed there remain elements within the PSNI who are against Sinn Féin. But they will not succeed.”
She pointed out that there has already been a decision to prosecute an eighth individual, Ivor Bell, who was arrested and charged in March 2014, and is currently before the court. The decision is to prosecute Bell on charges of soliciting the murder of McConville, which the veteran Belfast republican strongly denies. The evidence that led to Adams’s arrest last year, as well as the other six, was partly based on the Boston College tapes. These were a series of recorded testimonies from IRA and loyalist paramilitary veterans that were to form a historic archive about the armed campaigns of the Troubles. They were only to be released when each of the participants had died.
“We have had a series of meetings with members of the family, most recently this morning, about all of our prosecutorial decisions and we will continue to engage with them as we progress the prosecution of Ivor Bell. We thank them for the positive way that they have engaged with us at each stage of the process,” Atchison added. The Police Service of Northern Ireland pursued some of the taped interviews they claimed contained knowledge of the McConville murder and disappearance through the US courts system. But after examining files sent by the PSNI to the PPS in the case of the seven, including Adams, Atchison said there was insufficient evidence to continue the investigation.
Some of McConville’s children have said that if there is no means of pursuing Adams in the criminal courts they would consider a civil legal action against the Sinn Féin president. She pointed out that there had already been a decision to prosecute an eighth individual, Ivor Bell, who was arrested and charged in March 2014, and is currently before the court. The decision was to prosecute Bell on charges of soliciting the murder of McConville, which the veteran Belfast republican strongly denies.
Michael McConvile said the family were still consdering their options: “Those who ordered, planned and carried out this war crime thought that their guilt could disappear along with her body. But it has not and we will continue to seek justice for our mother and see those responsible held to account no matter how long it takes”. Atchison said: “We have had a series of meetings with members of the family, most recently this morning, about all of our prosecutorial decisions and we will continue to engage with them as we progress the prosecution of Ivor Bell. We thank them for the positive way that they have engaged with us at each stage of the process.”
The McKendrys want the civil action based on the case brought by families of the Omagh bomb massacre of 1998. Michael Gallagher and other families of the victims of the Omagh bomb massacre made legal history by suing four alleged Real IRA leaders in a civil action.
The abduction, fatal shooting and covert burial of McConville, a 37-year-old Protestant who became a Catholic convert, has continued to haunt both Adams and the peace process.The abduction, fatal shooting and covert burial of McConville, a 37-year-old Protestant who became a Catholic convert, has continued to haunt both Adams and the peace process.
In front of her children, at their home in the Divis flats complex, the west Belfast woman was dragged away by an IRA gang, driven across the border to the Irish Republic, shot in the head at a remote coastal spot in County Louth, and then buried in secret.In front of her children, at their home in the Divis flats complex, the west Belfast woman was dragged away by an IRA gang, driven across the border to the Irish Republic, shot in the head at a remote coastal spot in County Louth, and then buried in secret.
Former IRA members including Adams’ former friend, the hunger striker Brendan Hughes, alleged the Sinn Féin president gave the order for McConville to be “disappeared” after she was shot as an informer. Former IRA members including Adams’s former friend, the hunger striker Brendan Hughes, alleged the Sinn Féin president gave the order for McConville to be disappeared after she was shot as an informer.
Her family have always rejected any suggestion that she was a British army agent, pointing to an investigation by Northern Ireland’s former police ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, which found no evidence of their mother working as an informant.
Adams has consistently denied claims of involvement in the McConville murder or of ever being in the IRA.Adams has consistently denied claims of involvement in the McConville murder or of ever being in the IRA.
Storey was and is a close confidant of Adams. The west Belfast republican veteran was named in parliament in 2005 as being the director of the IRA intelligence-gathering department at the time of the £26m 2004 Northern Bank robbery – the biggest cash theft in UK criminal history.
When Adams was first arrested and questioned about the McConville murder in May 2014, Storey led the protests against his detention. Storey told a crowd of Sinn Féin supporters, gathered on the Falls Road in the heart of Adams’ old West Belfast constituency, that “we haven’t gone away you know” – an echo of the remarks the Sinn Féin president once made in the 1990s when he was challenged at a republican rally to “bring back the IRA”.
After being released without charge earlier this month as part of the PSNI’s inquiries into the killing, in August, of ex-IRA gunman Kevin McGuigan, Storey headed a press conference in Belfast during which he claimed that the paramilitary organisation had gone away and no longer existed.