An independent media consultant has told the High Court in Dublin that he believes the BBC Spotlight progamme at the centre of a defamation case, taken by former Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, would not have been found in breach of the UK's broadcasting regulations.
Mr Adams says he was defamed in a 2016 BBC Spotlight programme and a subsequent online article, which he says falsely claimed that he sanctioned the killing of a former senior Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson.
Chris Banatvala told the court he was a former director of standards with Ofcom, the UK's media regulator and he currently acts as an independent media consultant.
He said in his view, the BBC reasonably believed that its primary source, "Martin", was credible, reliable and had corroborative evidence from multiple sources.
Mr Banatvala said the claims were couched in terms of allegations and that Mr Adams had an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond.
As a result, he said he believed that Ofcom would not have found that programme would have been in breach of its code.
He said Mr Adams could have gone to Ofcom with a fairness complaint when it was broadcast.
Mr Banatvala said the story was of high public interest because it featured "a very serious allegation" concerning an elected figure.
He said he believed it would have been helpful to the audience if they understood that the BBC had multiple sources for the allegation, but he did not believe that this by itself would have caused unfairness to Mr Adams.
Under cross examination, he said he believed it was clear that the BBC reported it as an allegation.
Asked if in fact the programme had portrayed the allegation as fact, he said "I would respectively disagree."
