Ex-Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams leaves court after BBC libel case win

Former Irish republican leader Gerry Adams won a libel case against the BBC on Friday, and was awarded 100,000 euros in damages over a report containing allegations he was involved in killing a British spy.

The BBC Northern Ireland "Spotlight" investigation broadcast included an anonymous allegation that Adams gave final approval for the 2006 murder of Denis Donaldson, a former official in the pro-Irish unity Sinn Fein party Adams once led. The 55-year-old Donaldson, who later admitted working as a police and British agent, was found shot dead, months later in County Donegal, where he lived close to the Northern Ireland border.

The BBC programme claimed the killing was the work of the Provisional IRA, and featured an anonymous testimony that claimed the murder was approved by the political and military leadership of the IRA and that Adams "gives the final say". Adams brought the case in Dublin as the Spotlight programme could be watched in Ireland, where it was seen by about 16,000 people.