IRA bomb victim ‘completely devastated’ as Gerry Adams court case discontinued

One of the three IRA bombing victims who sued Gerry Adams for damages at the High Court has said he is “completely devastated” after the claim was discontinued.Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester, sued Mr Adams for £1 in damages along with John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London, and Jonathan Ganesh, a 1996 London Docklands bombing victim.The three men claimed Mr Adams was a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates, including of its army council.Mr Adams told the court in London during a two-week trial that he had “no involvement whatsoever” in the bombings and was never a member of the Provisional IRA, with his lawyers claiming the case should be thrown out as an abuse of the court system.On Friday, the last day of the trial, lawyers for the victims said the claim against the former Sinn Fein president had been “discontinued” with “no order as to costs”.Mr Laycock said: “I’m completely devastated. The fair trial we sought, getting Mr Adams into the dock for the first time, was achieved. But somehow we have lost our protection.“How is that fair on me or all the victims who deserve justice?"