Veteran republican given date for appeal to conviction for helping Gerry Adams escape prison

A veteran republican has been given a date for his bid to overturn a conviction for assisting in Gerry Adams’ attempt to escape from prison.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th Mar 2021, 01:37 BST
Updated 6th Mar 2021, 02:23 BST
Ivor Bell’s legal challenge was listed for hearing at the Court of Appeal in Belfast in MayIvor Bell’s legal challenge was listed for hearing at the Court of Appeal in Belfast in May
Ivor Bell’s legal challenge was listed for hearing at the Court of Appeal in Belfast in May

Ivor Bell’s legal challenge was listed for hearing at the Court of Appeal in Belfast in May.

Last year Mr Adams, the former Sinn Fein President, had his historic convictions for trying to escape from the Maze Prison quashed.

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He had been interned without trial at the jail — then known as the Long Kesh Internment Camp — under an interim custody order (ICO) during the 1970s.

But the UK’s Supreme Court quashed his convictions because the ICO was not personally authorised by the Northern Ireland Secretary at the time, Willie Whitelaw.

Mr Bell received a five-year sentence in 1975 following conviction on two charges: escaping from lawful custody and assisting in Mr Adams’ attempt to get out of the Maze the previous year.

The 84-year-old, from Ramoan Gardens in west Belfast, is now appealing a verdict that he was guilty of aiding in the escape bid.

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His lawyers are basing their case on the finding that Mr Adams’ detention had been unlawful.

In court today senior counsel for the Public Prosecution Service said efforts to locate potentially relevant documents are expected to be completed within two weeks.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan agreed to list the appeal for hearing on May 19.

Mr Bell’s challenge comes after he was cleared of any involvement in the notorious IRA killing of Jean McConville.

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The widowed mother-of-ten had been seized from her home in the city in 1972 after being wrongly accused of being an informer.

Following the abduction she was shot dead and then secretly buried. Her body was only discovered on a Co Louth beach in 2003.

Post-mortem examinations revealed she was killed by a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.

In October 2019 Mr Bell was acquitted of any role in her disappearance and killing.

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At a trial which the pensioner was excused from attending due to his dementia, jurors were directed to return a verdict of not guilty on charges of soliciting Mrs McConville’s murder.

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