Review finds insufficient evidence of Adams withholding information in brother's case
A decision not to prosecute Gerry Adams for allegedly withholding information about his paedophile brother was correct, a review has found.
There was insufficient evidence that the Sinn Féin president knew Liam Adams had raped his daughter, Aine Dahlstrom, and the public interest was better served by using him as a witness, according to Attorney General John Larkin.
It also emerged that Ms Dahlstrom did not want Gerry Adams to be prosecuted.
Mr Larkin said: “It should be open to the PPS to make a public interest decision that such persons should be treated as witnesses and not treated as suspects by the PSNI or prosecuted without first having to take all those steps necessary in order to ascertain whether the evidential test is or is not satisfied.”
Liam Adams was jailed for 16 years in 2013 for a string of sex attacks over a six-year period during the 1970s and 1980s.
The abuse began when Ms Dalhstrom, who has waived her right to anonymity, was just four years old. Last month Liam Adams, 59, formerly of Bernagh Drive lost an appeal against his conviction.
The review was carried out at the request of Barra McGrory, the North's Director of Public Prosecutions in 2013, but was not made public until after the appeal hearing.
Gerry Adams testified at Liam Adams’ first trial, which collapsed in April 2013 for legal reasons.
He told the court that during a walk in the rain in Dundalk, his brother had admitted he sexually abused his daughter, Ms Dalhstrom.
Gerry Adams made his first report to police about the allegations in 2007 shortly after his party voted to accept the PSNI.
In 2009 he made a second statement to police, telling officers that his brother Liam had confessed to him nine years earlier in 2000 that he had sexually abused his daughter.
He did not give evidence at the second trial.
The police passed a file to the PPS and recommended no prosecution as there was insufficient evidence to meet the evidential test.
The Attorney General described as premature the PPS decision that the evidential test was not met.
Mr Larkin said: “On the basis of the evidence on file, it appears to me that the PPS decision that the evidential sub-test was not met was perhaps premature.
“There was certainly some evidence on the police file that indicated knowledge on the part of Gerry Adams that the abuse perpetrated against his niece amounted to rape or unlawful carnal knowledge and yet no action was taken to clarify this issue.”
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Pamela Atchison welcomed the Attorney General’s findings.
She said: “This review, in considering the decision-making process in the case, provides a careful and thorough analysis of the law and outlines possible actions that the PPS may utilise to address this complex area.
“As the Attorney General sets out in his review, in cases where information is confided to family members, it is in the public interest that those who hold such information can be deployed as witnesses for the prosecution as they can provide important supporting evidence.”
