Northern Ireland

Court bid to stop case against Ivor Bell over Jean McConville murder

Ivor Bell leaves court following a previous hearing. Picture by Hugh Russell
Ivor Bell leaves court following a previous hearing. Picture by Hugh Russell Ivor Bell leaves court following a previous hearing. Picture by Hugh Russell

A veteran republican charged in connection with the IRA murder of Jean McConville is not medically fit to stand trial, a judge has been told.

Lawyers for Ivor Bell (80), who has been diagnosed with dementia, claimed that a trial "could be harmful to his physical and mental health".

Bell faces two counts of soliciting the abduction and killing of the Belfast mother-of-10 in 1972.

The 37-year-old was dragged from her home in the Divis flats complex by an IRA gang and shot and secretly buried 50 miles away, becoming one of the 'Disappeared' victims of the Troubles.

Her remains were eventually found on Shelling Hill beach in Co Louth in 2003.

The case is based on the alleged content of tapes police secured from an oral history archive collated by Boston College in the US.

At Belfast Crown Court yesterday, his defence team launched a bid to have the case against him thrown out.

Defence barrister Barry Macdonald QC said it was inevitable that the court would find Bell was unfit to face a criminal trial by reason of his dementia.

He said to continue legal action in the form of a trial of facts was "likely to exacerbate this condition".

A trial of facts can be held to determine the truth of the allegations against a defendant, as opposed to their guilt or innocence of a crime.

"He cannot have a fair trial. It would be oppressive and unfair to seek to try him in the circumstances," said Mr Macdonald.

The lawyer also told the court that any trial would be "complex, complicated and time consuming" and likely to result in an absolute discharge.

But Ciaran Murphy QC, for the Public Prosecution Service, said a trial of facts was in the public interest.

"(The case) has been the subject of great public interest throughout Ireland. That element of the public interest cannot and should not be ignored."

He added: "There is nothing that makes it impossible for Mr Bell to have a fair trial."

Mr Justice Colton granted both parties one week to make further written submissions.

He said he would reserve his judgment until after he received the submissions.