Gerry Adams faces review over brother’s sex abuse

THE decision not to prosecute Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams over allegations that he withheld information on his sex abuser brother is to be reviewed.

Attorney General for Northern Ireland John Larkin has been asked to examine the evidence relating to Liam Adams as he awaits sentencing for six years of rape attacks on his daughter Aine in the 1970s.

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) revealed it had asked for a review of the case.

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A spokesman said: “The Director of Public Prosecutions, Barra McGrory QC, recognises that there has been considerable public interest surrounding the decision not to prosecute Mr Gerry Adams in October 2011 in relation to an allegation that he withheld information in connection with the Liam Adams case.

“While the director has confidence in the evidential decision taken by the PPS prior to his appointment, he has asked the Attorney General to independently review the matter. The Attorney General will be given full access to all materials that he considers necessary in order to complete this review.”

The review began after Gerry Adams, a TD in the Irish Republic, said that with hindsight he could have handled the allegations of sexual abuse of his niece by his brother differently.

Liam Adams will be sentenced on November 5 in Belfast after being found guilty by a jury last month.

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“There are things perhaps with hindsight that I could have done differently,” Gerry Adams said. “I’m not on trial here. My brother was on trial. Aine has been vindicated. There is a lot of healing that needs to be done. All of us can look back on episodes like this and be challenged by them and I’m not beyond that.”

Mr Adams claimed that he co-operated fully with the Northern Ireland authorities in relation to allegations over his brother and has insisted that the police were aware of them as long ago as 1987.

Mr Adams has faced criticism for not going to the police sooner after his brother confessed to him in 2000 but did not make a statement to the police until 2009.

He said that he did not have full details of the abuse in 1987 when the police were first notified.

Mr Adams said that, when his niece came back to him and sought an admission from her father, she was an adult and capable of making her own decisions.