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BBC response to Adams complaint 'insulting', court told — Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has told the High Court that the BBC's response to his complaint about a documentary was "absolutely insulting" an...

Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has told the High Court that the BBC's response to his complaint about a documentary was "absolutely insulting" and "absolutely arrogant".

Mr Adams was giving evidence to the High Court for a third day in his defamation case against the BBC.

He alleges he was defamed in a 2016 Spotlight programme, which he says falsely claimed that he sanctioned the killing of former senior Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson.

Donaldson was shot dead in 2006, months after admitting being an informer for the police and MI5 over two decades.

Mr Adams has denied any involvement in the killing.

Legal counsel for Mr Adams, Declan Doyle SC, read out some of the correspondence between the BBC and Mr Adam's solicitors, Johnsons Solicitors, which were sent and received after the documentary aired.

They were dated in late 2016 with a final one in 2017.

The solicitors, in the letters, said the BBC had not carried out due diligence in producing the programme.

BBC programme 'presented unchallenged' - legal letter

In response, the BBC wrote that it did not draw conclusions about who was responsible for the killing of Donaldson and it said it had followed editorial guidelines.

Again, Mr Adams legal team responded with a letter to the BBC in which, they said, the broadcaster had made no attempt to address the issues their client had raised and that "the sting of your broadcast is clearly that our client had the final say and was party to the murder of Denis Donaldson".

The legal letter went on to say that the accusation in the programme was "presented unchallenged".

In the documentary, which was shown in court yesterday, an interview with an anonymous source known as "Martin" alleged Mr Adams sanctioned the killing.

The solicitor’s letter to the BBC went on to say: "We remain extremely concerned; is it the case that the BBC stand over the allegation? The interview was contrived in such a way that the anonymous source was not challenged in any way."

They went on to request an apology and compensation.

The BBC said it did follow editorial guidelines in making the Spotlight programme.

Asked by his legal counsel if he was satisfied with the response, Mr Adams said he was not and that the letters show how in the months after the broadcast, the effort on his part was to "get it resolved through whatever mechanism, short of having to come to court."

Cross-examination set to begin

He told his counsel, Declan Doyle SC, that he found the BBC’s response "absolutely insulting, absolutely arrogant".

He went to say the BBC is a public broadcaster which is paid for by the public and that he didn’t "feel that the tone of their letters that they are dealing with the issues we raised."

"It was offensive, insulting and it is what has all of us here today," he said.

The conclusion of Mr Adams evidence came with the reading aloud of a statement he made in the aftermath of the killing of Denis Donaldson in 2006, in which he condemned it and sympathised with the family.

In the statement, he went on to disassociate with whomever was responsible for the murder, and said the security services had "ruthlessly used Denis Donaldson to collapse the democratic process" and that it was "clear those who murdered him are against the peace process".

Mr Justice Alexander Owens asked the court to rise to hear legal arguments about material the BBC legal team wish to use in their cross-examination of Mr Adams.

The material includes 45 articles and a half an hour of a montage of footage.

It is understood the cross-examination of Mr Adams will begin this afternoon.

Counsel for the BBC includes Paul Gallagher SC and Owen McCullough SC.