Liam Adams loses bid to overturn his rape conviction

LIAM ADAMS, the brother of Sinn Féin chief Gerry Adams, has failed in a bid to overturn convictions for raping his own daughter at the High Court in Belfast.

The 59-year-old had challenged a guilty verdict over a string of sexual assaults on his daughter Aine.

Adams, formerly of Bernagh Drive in Belfast, is serving a 16-year prison sentence for the offences.

A judge said the court had not been persuaded that the verdict of the jury was unsafe and dismissed the appeal.

That included all grounds of challenge, including claims about pre-trial publicity, lies and inconsistent evidence.

Liam Adams’ abuse of his daughter was said to have been committed over a six-year period between 1977 and 1982.

Aine, who waived her right to anonymity, was between four and nine at the time.

Adams consistently denied the allegations throughout a second trial at Belfast Crown Court in 2013.

A jury of nine men and three women found him guilty of 10 offences against his daughter: three charges of rape, four counts of indecent assault and a further three counts of gross indecency.