Paul Tweed to represent Gerry Adams in defamation case

Belfast lawyer Paul Tweed of Johnsons Solicitors is representing Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams in defamation proceedings against the BBC.

The high-profile lawyer - senior partner and head of the media department at Johnsons Solicitors - has acted for a wide range of celebrities and political figures, including Northern Ireland’s former First Minister Peter Robinson.

Mr Adams is taking his case against the BBC in the High Court in Dublin following the broadcast of a Spotlight programme investigating the killing of Denis Donaldson in 2006.

Mr Donaldson was a Provisional IRA volunteer and Sinn Féin member who was murdered after he was exposed as a British spy.

The Real IRA claimed responsibility for the murder in 2009, but nobody has been prosecuted for the killing to date.

The murder was explored by BBC’s Spotlight in September 2016. Mr Adams has denied allegations made about him in the programme.