Republican charged with Jean McConville death may have dementia

A court's been told that 79-year-old Ivor Bell is suffering with a vascular form of dementia

Lawyers for a republican charged with the IRA murder of mother-of-ten Jean McConville say their client would not be able to fully participate in his trial because he is suffering with a vascular form of dementia.

It could prompt a defence application that Ivor Bell is unfit to stand trial.

The 79-year-old from Ramoan Gardens in west Belfast, is charged with two counts of soliciting Jean McConville's killing in 1972.

Bell's barrister, Dessie Hutton, revealed the outcome of a defence commissioned medical examination to judge Seamus Treacy.

"He suffers from dementia which has a cardio vascular cause and he wouldn't be able to properly follow the course of proceedings."

A prosecution lawyer told the judge that he would like to commission a psychiatrist to examine the defendant. He also requested full access to Bell's medical files.

Judge Treacy adjourned the case until December 16 when lawyers will provide a further update on how the case will proceed.

Jean McConville was dragged from her home in Belfast's Divis flats complex by an IRA gang of up to 12 men and women.

She was accused of passing information to the British Army - an allegation later discredited by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman.

Mrs McConville was shot in the back of the head and secretly buried 50 miles from her home, becoming one of the "Disappeared" victims of the Troubles.

It was not until 1999 that the IRA admitted the murder when information was passed to police in the Irish Republic.

Her remains were eventually found in County Louth by a member of the public in August 2003.

Nobody has been convicted of her murder.

The case against Bell is based on the content of tapes police secured from an oral history archive collated by Boston College in the United States.

It is alleged that one of the interviews was given by Bell - a claim the defendant denies.