Jun 30 2005
BRITAIN
ic Coventry
By Steve Chilton
A Coventry man who was repeatedly sexually abused when he was a child by a city priest, was today awarded a record £700,000 in compensation.
The victim, known as Mr A, was abused for years by former Catholic priest Fr Christopher Clonan.
The award which was announced by a High Court judge is a UK record for a sex abuse case involving a priest. Costs will also be awarded to Mr A, sending the bill to the Catholic Church to more than £1 million.
The victim, now 34, was brought up in the Coundon area. He was abused by the priest from about the age of seven, and the assaults continued into his late teenage years.
The abuse, including rape and other serious assaults, was carried out in Coventry at Fr Clonan’s room at Christ the King Church, the priest’s nearby home, and his second home in Ireland.