GERRY ADAMS will not face prosecution over the 1972 killing of Jean McConville.
The widowed mother- of-10 was abducted from her home in West Belfast in December 1972 before being shot and killed by the IRA.
The Public Prosecutions Service announced yesterday that due to insufficient evidence a decision has been taken not to prosecute Mr Adams and the six others who were questioned in relation to her death.
The news comes as Mr Adams is in New York attending the Clinton Global Initiative AGM.
In a statement released on the Sinn Féin website he said: “There was never any real basis for questioning me in respect of this case. I played no act or part in Jean McConville’s death.
"I voluntarily went to the PSNI last year after a concerted series of leaks claiming that I was about to be arrested.
"For some time I have been the target of a sustained and malicious campaign seeking to involve me with the killing of Mrs McConville.
"I am also very conscious of the huge hurt inflicted on the McConville family. The abduction, killing and secret burial of Jean McConville was wrong."
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Pamela Atchison, said: “We have given careful consideration to the evidence currently available in respect of each of the three men and four women reported and have concluded that it is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction against any of them for a criminal offence.”
An eighth suspect, Ivor Bell, 78, from Ramoan Gardens in west Belfast, was arrested and charged with aiding and abetting the killing of Mrs McConville in March 2014. He denies the charges.
Ms Atchison added: “We have had a series of meetings with members of the family, most recently this morning, about all of our prosecutorial decisions and we will continue to engage with them as we progress the prosecution of Ivor Bell. We thank them for the positive way that they have engaged with us at each stage of the process.”
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