Mr Gerry Adams was not allowed through an RUC cordon to join people protesting against an Orange march because it was feared his presence would lead to a breach of the peace, Belfast Recorder's Court was told yesterday.
Supt Stephen Grange said: "I firmly believed that had Mr Adams been admitted he would have provided a rallying point for other Sinn Fein and republican activists."
He was giving evidence at the resumed hearing of Mr Adams's action against the RUC, claiming £10,000 compensation for false imprisonment and an abuse of police powers. The case relates to a police operation on Belfast's Lower Ormeau the night before a controversial Orange parade on July 12th, 1996.
The hearing was adjourned.