Ivor Bell found not guilty of soliciting Jean McConville murder

The former Sinn Fein president rejected the allegation as he appeared as a witness at a trial of the facts into two charges against Ivor Bell.

Five of Jean McConville’s surviving children were at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday as a jury of four women and eight men found Mr Bell not guilty of encouraging her murder.

Mr Bell, 82, of Ramoan Gardens in Belfast, was not present for the trial of the facts which came after he was found medically unfit to stand trial in December last year. He was excused from attending due to his health.

Judge Mr Justice O’Hara directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty having earlier ruled that taped interviews, which were the central plank of the prosecution case, were inadmissible.

“As a result of some legal rulings which have been made over the last two days there is now no evidence that the prosecution can put before you to support the case it was putting against Mr Bell,” he said.

“My role now is to direct you to return a verdict of not guilty because you simply cannot find him to have done the acts alleged.”

The judge also lifted restrictions that had prevented reporting of the two-week trial of the facts.

Mr Justice O’Hara told the jury at Belfast Crown Court: “As a result of some legal rulings which have been made over the last two days there is now no evidence that the prosecution can put before you to support the case it was putting against Mr Bell.

“My role now is to direct you to return a verdict of not guilty because you simply cannot find him to have done the acts alleged.”

Mr Justice O’Hara lifted reporting restrictions which had prohibited the reporting of the trial of the facts following the verdict.

A jury of eight men and four women were directed to reach the not guilty verdict following a trial of the facts after Mr Bell, 82, of Ramoan Gardens in Belfast was found medically unfit to stand trial in 2018.

The aim of a trial of the facts is to determine the truth of the allegations against the defendant.

It cannot result in a conviction, but if the court is not satisfied that the accused committed the acts alleged, then he will be acquitted.

Mr Bell was excused from attending proceedings at Belfast Crown Court over the last two weeks due to his health.

The trial was the subject of blanket reporting restrictions which were lifted on Thursday following a challenge from a number of media organisations including the PA news agency.

Mr Bell had been charged with encouraging murder and endeavouring to persuade people to murder.

The prosecution case centred on an interview given by interviewee Z to Anthony McIntyre for the Boston College-sponsored Belfast Project, an oral history project of Northern Ireland’s troubled past.

Tapes from the project were seized by the PSNI in 2014 following a transatlantic court battle. The prosecution argued that Z is Mr Bell.

Following the Crown Court ruling, the McConville family said they are “bitterly disappointed”.

In a statement they said: “It was not easy to listen to Ivor Bell’s confession and we are bitterly disappointed that it cannot be used in evidence in this case.

“But whatever happens (with) the legal technicalities, everyone in the court this week heard how the abduction, murder and disappearance of our mother 47 years ago was planned.

“For 20 years the IRA denied they had anything to do with murder and disappearance and they only admitted it when it suited them.

“She was not an informer and Gerry Adams has confirmed in court that he didn’t believe that she was.”

The McConville family have demanded a full public inquiry into their mother’s death.

“She was a loving, working class widowed mother doing her best to raise 10 children,” their statement added.

“They murdered her because they could.

“We may not have got justice but we have got some truth. But this cannot finish here.

“We need and demand a full public inquiry. We’ve heard Gerry Adams often call for inquiries.

“Will he support this one?”

A statement issued on behalf of Ivor Bell and his family said: “At the outset the family would like to acknowledge that today and the entire process has been a difficult and, at times, frustrating process for the family of Jean McConville who have been seeking truth and justice for 50 years.

“Today’s ruling vindicates Ivor Bell and comes as exoneration after a five-year-long legal battle.

“From the outset of this process, Ivor has vehemently denied the allegations levelled against him relating to the murder of Jean McConville.

“He put forward an alibi at the earliest opportunity at the police station.

“In the course of this trial process, the court heard evidence which corroborated Ivor’s alibi, and that he was not in the jurisdiction at the time of the murder.

“The court has rightly held that the Boston College tapes are inherently unreliable. We now look forward to putting this case and its ill-founded allegations behind us.”

Ivor Bell’s solicitor Peter Corrigan said: “The Boston Tapes were of no benefit from a historical perspective, never mind meeting the threshold of evidence in a criminal trial.

“The process from start to finish was fatally flawed, which lacked the relevant safeguards, and is described by one expert during the course of this trial as ‘exactly not how to conduct an oral history project’.”