{"id":378754,"date":"2026-03-11T03:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T03:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/378754\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T03:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T03:26:11","slug":"docklands-bombing-victim-says-he-believes-gerry-adams-played-major-part-in-ira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/378754\/","title":{"rendered":"Docklands bombing victim says he believes Gerry Adams played \u2018major part\u2019 in IRA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Ganesh, giving evidence at the High Court in London in a civil case brought against the former Sinn F\u00e9in leader, told how his mental health had suffered as he \u201crelived the nightmare\u201d of the bombing.<\/p>\n

The witness also denied a suggestion that he had taken the case against Mr Adams only because of the introduction of the previous government\u2019s Legacy Act.<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh was injured in the 1996 London Docklands bombing, which killed his friends Inam Bashir and John Jeffries and injured more than 100 others.<\/p>\n

Along with John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London, and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester, the three men allege that Mr Adams was a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates, including of its Army Council.<\/p>\n

They are seeking \u00a31 in damages.<\/p>\n

\"Gerry<\/p>\n

Gerry Adams leaving the Royal Courts of Justice (Gareth Fuller\/PA)<\/p>\n

Mr Adams denies that he had any role in the Provisional IRA and is opposing the claim.<\/p>\n

DUP leader Gavin Robinson attended court on Tuesday with his party MP Gregory Campbell.<\/p>\n

Outside court, Mr Robinson said it would be \u201cseismic\u201d if the court concluded Mr Adams was an IRA member.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that this is an important case,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf our system establishes that he was, and that liability rests with him, then that will be seismic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that he was the leader of a republican movement that was responsible for breaking hearts and homes and scarring our nation, and today, in this case, is an opportunity for justice for victims and that\u2019s why we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n

But after the hearing concluded on Tuesday, Mr Adams told reporters that he did not take Mr Robinson\u2019s remarks \u201ctoo seriously\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI think all of us have a duty to show solidarity to all the victims, no matter who was responsible for their injuries or their deaths, and I think that\u2019s fair enough.<\/p>\n

\"Jonathan<\/p>\n

Jonathan Ganesh was injured in the Docklands bombing (Gareth Fuller\/PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019d be better spending his time and using his energy and his talent to make sure that the Stormont Assembly and the other institutions work for the benefit of all of the people of the island of Ireland, particularly the people of the north.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the evidence before the High Court on Tuesday, Anne Studd KC, representing the three men, asked Mr Ganesh what was his catalyst for bringing the proceedings.<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh said he was \u201cvery concerned regarding Mr Adams\u2019 behaviour\u201d in bringing legal action against the UK Government.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI felt that is not right for all of the innocent victims who have suffered.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Robottom, representing Mr Adams, asked Mr Ganesh if he was bringing the claim to seek justice.<\/p>\n

\"Barry<\/p>\n

Barry Laycock outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London. Phoo: James Manning\/PA<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cSome kind of justice, that is correct.\u201d<\/p>\n

The barrister asked if he was also bringing the case on behalf of other IRA victims.<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh said: \u201cThat would be a fair statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Robottom said: \u201cYou want to be able to say Gerry Adams is the man responsible for the bombing that injured you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh said: \u201cI don\u2019t suggest for one minute that Mr Adams drove the lorry or planted the bomb but I do believe he played a major part in the IRA and I thought he had some involvement with the attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

The barrister said: \u201cYou believed in the aftermath of the bombing that your injuries were attributable, caused by Gerry Adams?\u201d<\/p>\n

The witness said: \u201cI believe he had some involvement in it but I don\u2019t believe he actually planted the bomb.\u201d<\/p>\n

The barrister questioned the witness about why he did not bring the case against Mr Adams years earlier.<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh said after the 1996 bombing he was angry, but never opposed the peace process in Northern Ireland, even though it led to the early release from prison of James McArdle, who had been convicted of the Docklands attack.<\/p>\n

He said he thought the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 would have prevented him from bringing a compensation claim against Mr Adams earlier.<\/p>\n

\"Gerry<\/p>\n

Gerry Adams arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice. Photo: James Manning\/PA Wire<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIn my heart I was hoping the peace process would work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh said it was only when Mr Adams announced his intention to sue the Government, that he explored the possibility of bringing a case against him.<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh said he had previously been awarded \u00a31,000 by the criminal injuries compensation scheme due to shrapnel injuries.<\/p>\n

He told the court he was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and had received extensive treatment.<\/p>\n

The barrister asked if he had considered making another claim for compensation, based on his mental health issues.<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh told the court: \u201cMy primary concern was to get myself well\u2026 that was my primary goal, not to seek compensation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are in a very dark place, you keep reliving that nightmare all the time, you relive it like a record that keeps playing all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last thing I was thinking about was receiving substantial compensation. I just wanted to get my health better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Robottom asked Mr Ganesh about his efforts, through work with the Docklands Victims Association (DVA), to get compensation for victims of the 1996 attack from Libya.<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh said he had not mentioned the DVA in his statement to the court as he did not believe it was relevant to the current case against Mr Adams.<\/p>\n

Mr Robottom asked Mr Ganesh if the \u201creal reason\u201d he had brought the civil case because of the introduction of the previous government\u2019s Legacy Act.<\/p>\n

He asked: \u201cThis claim could have been brought by you at any stage in the last 25 to 28 years, do you accept that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh responded: \u201cI think if you had seen me 25 years ago I think even you would concur with me I was (in) no condition even (to) hold down a job or even feed myself properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The barrister said: \u201cOver 25 years Mr Adams wasn\u2019t the chief person or anywhere near the chief person you were seeking vindication for what you have been through from.<\/p>\n

\"British<\/p>\n

British military veterans hanging placards with pictures of Gerry Adams outside the Old Bailey (James Manning\/PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasn\u2019t that important. Libya was important, seeking justice through the DVA was important. The only reason this claim was brought in 2022 was because the Legacy Act was coming in and you were seeking justice against the first person you could find.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Ganesh said: \u201cThat is not true at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before lunch, the trial heard from Mr Laycock.<\/p>\n

Mr Robottom asked him why he was bringing the case decades after the Arndale bombing.<\/p>\n

Mr Laycock said he had decided that if Mr Adams was bringing a legal case against the Government, he wanted to bring a case against the former Sinn F\u00e9in leader.<\/p>\n

The witness said he wanted the \u201ctruth to be established\u201d during the hearing.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI think he (Mr Adams) had an involvement with the IRA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked by Mr Robottom why it had taken 25 or 26 years after the bombing to bring a claim Mr Laycock outlined a number of reasons.<\/p>\n

He said between 1997 and 2015 he had a number of stays in hospital, including a psychiatric hospital.<\/p>\n

He said his injuries left him with impaired spinal, lower leg and psychological functions and he was reliant on his two daughters and his wife to care for him adding: \u201cat that moment in time I wasn\u2019t physically or mentally fit to do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said that \u201cgiven my financial struggles after the attack\u201d he could not afford lawyers and until 2017 \u201chis focus\u201d had been on the Libya claim.<\/p>\n

Mr Adams was in the courtroom in London as the evidence was delivered.<\/p>\n

The trial before Mr Justice Jonathan Swift is expected to end next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jonathan Ganesh, giving evidence at the High Court in London in a civil case brought against the former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,13,14,9618,6,9619,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-378754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-featured-news","11":"tag-featurednews","12":"tag-gerry-adams","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-ira","15":"tag-latest-news","16":"tag-latestnews","17":"tag-main-news","18":"tag-mainnews","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-top-stories","21":"tag-topstories","22":"tag-world","23":"tag-world-news","24":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116208414534419667","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}