Gerry Adams has won a Supreme Court appeal against two historic convictions for trying to escape from the Maze Prison in the 1970s.
The former Sinn Fein leader claimed that the 1975 convictions are unsafe since his detention was not “personally considered” by a senior government minister.
Mr Adams attempted to escape from the Maze, also known as Long Kesh internment camp, on Christmas Eve 1973 and then tried again in July 1974.
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| Watch towers on the remnants of the former H Block Maze prison at Long Kesh near Lisburn Northern Ireland. |
He was later sentenced to a total of four and a half years.
At a hearing in November, Mr Adams' lawyers argued that, because the interim custody order (ICO) used to initially detain him in July 1973 was not authorised by the then-secretary of state for Northern Ireland Willie Whitelaw, his detention was unlawful and his convictions should be overturned.
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| The former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams whose appeal against historic prison escape convictions will be ruled on by the UK's Supreme Court later Wednesday |
Announcing the Supreme Court's judgment at a remote hearing on Wednesday, Lord Kerr - the former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland - said the court had unanimously allowed Mr Adams' appeal and had quashed his convictions.
The judge said Mr Adams' detention was unlawful because it had not been "considered personally" by Mr Whitelaw.
The judge said: “The making of the (interim custody order) in respect of the appellant was invalid since the Secretary of State had not himself considered it.
“In consequence, Mr Adams’ detention was unlawful, hence his convictions of attempting to escape from lawful custody were, likewise, unlawful.”
Lord Kerr added: “The appeal is therefore allowed and his convictions are quashed.
Mr Adams later urged the British Government to identify and inform others whose internment may also have been unlawful.
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| Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams |
“I have no regrets about my imprisonment, except for the time I was separated from my family. However, we were not on our own.
“It is believed that around 2,000 men and women were interned during its four-and-a-half years of operation.
“I consider my time in the prison ship Maidstone, in Belfast prison and in Long Kesh to have been in the company of many remarkable, resilient and inspiring people.
“Internment, like all coercive measures, failed.
“There is an onus on the British Government to identify and inform other internees whose internment may also have been unlawful.”
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| Mr Adams said the issue was discussed by the attorney general with then-British prime minister Harold Wilson on July 17 1974. |
Mr Adams said the issue was discussed by the attorney general with then-British prime minister Harold Wilson on July 17 1974.
“So the knowledge of my unlawful detention was known by the most senior level of the British system.
“Of course internment, later described as detention by the British, was never lawful.
“In fact it set aside the normal principles of law and was based on a blunt and brutal piece of coercive legislation.”
