A civil court case brought by three victims of IRA bombings has opened in London, seeking to hold former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams personally liable for attacks carried out in Britain during the Troubles.

The case began Monday at the Royal Courts of Justice, where the claimants are asking the court to rule that Adams was responsible for decisions to plant car bombs in London and Manchester in 1973 and 1996.

The men are suing Adams for nominal damages of £1, saying the legal action is primarily for “vindicatory purposes.”

The seven-day hearing is being presided over by Mr Justice Swift.

The claim was filed by John Clark, who was injured in the 1973 bombing outside the Old Bailey, along with Jonathan Ganesh and Barry Laycock, who were wounded in separate IRA attacks in 1996 at London’s Docklands and near Manchester’s Arndale Centre.

The three bombings mark the first and last IRA attacks carried out in Britain.

In March 1973, a car bomb exploded outside the Old Bailey, injuring more than 200 people and causing extensive damage. Investigators later said the explosive device had been transported by car ferry from Belfast to Liverpool before being driven to London.

More than two decades later, on 9 February 1996, an IRA truck bomb detonated in London’s Docklands, killing two people and injuring dozens. Just months afterward, another bomb exploded near Manchester’s Arndale shopping centre in June 1996.

More than 200 people were injured in the Manchester attack, which was described as the most powerful bomb to explode in Britain since World War II.

Lawyers representing the victims say they will present evidence from several witnesses, including former IRA members as well as retired police officers and soldiers.

Two witnesses have been granted anonymity and will give evidence screened from public view.

Adams, now 77, is expected to testify in his defence next week. He has repeatedly denied any involvement with the attacks or with the IRA itself.

Writing last month in the Andersonstown News, Adams rejected the claims.

“I anticipate a number of witnesses will give hearsay evidence that because I was a senior republican during the conflict I must be responsible for these specific events,” he said.

“I had no direct or indirect involvement in these explosions.”

“I will robustly challenge the unsubstantiated hearsay statements that are the mainstay of the claimants’ case.”

The victims’ legal team says the proceedings will mark the first time Adams is cross-examined in an English court over allegations regarding his leadership role within the Irish Republican Army.

The judge will determine liability based on the civil standard of proof “the balance of probabilities.”

The lawsuit was initiated in 2022, shortly before the UK government’s Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 blocked new civil claims connected to the Troubles, a law currently undergoing efforts to reverse it.

The claimants have raised more than £100,000 through crowdfunding to support the legal action. They say the case is being pursued not only for themselves but on behalf of all victims of IRA violence.

Following a pre-trial ruling, Adams will be unable to recover his legal costs from the claimants believed to run into six figures even if he successfully defends the case.

The IRA was responsible for about 1,700 killings during the conflict known as The Troubles.

Adams was charged with IRA membership in 1978, though the case was later dropped due to insufficient evidence. His only convictions connected to the Troubles for two attempts to escape prison while interned without trial in the mid-1970s were quashed in 2020.

He has previously been questioned under oath about his alleged IRA past, including during the Ballymurphy Inquest in Belfast in 2019 and in a libel case he brought against the BBC in Dublin last year. (Arise News)

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