Published 2 days ago • loading... • Updated 16 hours ago

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams wins BBC defamation case

Gerry Adams, previously at the helm of Sinn Féin, secured a victory in his libel lawsuit against the BBC at Dublin's High Court on May 28, 2025.
The case originated from a 2016 BBC Spotlight broadcast and an online article that alleged Adams had approved the assassination of Denis Donaldson, a former senior member of Sinn Féin.
The jury was told that Donaldson had confessed to working as a police and MI5 informant prior to his 2006 killing, for which a dissident republican group identified as the Real IRA took responsibility in 2009.
After nearly seven hours of deliberation, the 11-member jury awarded Adams 100,000 euros in damages, rejecting the BBC's argument for nominal damages and unfair broadcast defence.
The verdict underscored legal limits on defamation in media, affirming Adams' reputation despite the serious allegations amid ongoing public interest in the state's conflict history.

Insights by Ground AI

Does this summary seem wrong?

109 Articles

All

Left

Center

Right

Channel 4

Lean Left

Former Sinn Fein leader awarded £84k in libel case against BBC

The former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has been awarded £84,000 in damages after winning his libel case against the BBC.

1 day ago·London, United Kingdom

Read Full Article

Al Jazeera

Lean Left

Ex-Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams wins libel case against the BBC

Jury found that the BBC had not acted in good faith and awarded Adams 100,000 euros ($113,000) in damages.

1 day ago·Qatar

Read Full Article

NOS

Lean Right

Former Politician Gerry Adams Gets €100,000 From BBC in Libel Case

The British broadcaster BBC must pay Gerry Adams, the former leader of the Irish political party Sinn Féin, €100,000 in damages. Adams had sued the BBC for libel after the broadcaster held him responsible in a documentary for the murder of a spy within the party in 2005. In the documentary, broadcast in 2016, an anonymous source said that Adams had ordered the murder of Dennis Donaldson, a prominent Sinn Féin member, ten years earlier. A few mon…

2 days ago·Netherlands

Read Full Article

npr

Reposted by

Georgia Public Broadcasting

Lean Left

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams wins libel case against BBC over spy murder claim

Adams sued over an allegation in a 2016 documentary that he sanctioned the 2006 killing of a British spy in Ireland. A jury in Dublin's High Court awarded Adams damages of 100,000 euros ($113,000).

2 days ago·Washington, United States

Read Full Article