Jesuit School Abuse: Man Wins ?54k Damages

Sky News
November 9, 2012

http://news.sky.com/story/1009178/jesuit-school-abuse-man-wins-54k-damages

Patrick Raggett had been seeking ?5m damages

A former City lawyer who said his life had suffered as a result of sexual abuse he endured at the hands of a Roman Catholic priest has been awarded ?54,923 in damages by the High Court.

Patrick Raggett, 54, had been asking for ?5m, claiming that he had lost earnings as a result of what happened to him as a schoolboy, and although Mrs Justice Swift said he had been the victim of an "insidious form of abuse", she said he was not entitled to such a large amount of money.

The High Court hearing in London had been told how Mr Raggett was sexually abused between the ages of 11 and 15 by Father Michael Spencer, a priest at a Jesuit training college in Preston, Lancashire, who died 12 years ago, aged 76.

Between 1970 and 1974, Father Spencer, who was Mr Raggett's form tutor and football coach, watched him naked, filmed him, photographed him and touched him, although he never carried out any penetrative act or physically harmed him.

As a result of the abuse, he said he suffered years of under achievement at work and a failed marriage, as well as binge drinking and a breakdown, but he was not in court to hear the outcome of the hearing.

Patrick Raggett went to Preston Catholic College, Lancashire

Mrs Justice Swift said: "I am well aware that the conclusions I have reached in my judgment will be disappointing to the claimant and that its contents may cause him some distress.

"This is particularly unfortunate and regrettable since there is no doubt that he was the victim of an insidious form of abuse involving a grave breach of trust and that he has suffered significantly. As a result, he is deserving of sympathy.

"Over recent years, he has come to believe that all the adverse events that have occurred in his life are attributable to the abuse and that belief, which I do not doubt is sincerely held, has clearly brought him a great deal of comfort.

"Having heard all the evidence, including expert psychiatric evidence, I have come to a different conclusion from that held by the claimant."

Mr Raggett, who lives in Chiswick and is remarried with a young child, waived his right to anonymity and said he did not link his experiences at school to his failed professional and personal life until a breakdown in April 2005.

He said that the abuse left him feeling "violation, dread, isolation, shame and humiliation".

Governors at Preston Catholic College, which closed in 1978, denied liability and said it was too late to bring a claim but in 2009, Mrs Justice Swift ruled against this and assessed Mr Raggett's claim for damages.

In her written ruling, Mrs Justice Swift said: "I do not consider that the abuse played any significant role in the claimant's performance at work, the loss of his legal career, his excessive drinking, his drug taking or his difficulties with relationships."

Mrs Justice Swift was asked to conduct a review of Mr Raggett's life history, from his early childhood, schooling and student days at Liverpool University where he read English, to a short accountancy traineeship and his time at a law school in Guildford.

She said the breakdown in 2005 had caused an "awakening of memories of certain incidents and emotions associated with them", adding that his family had described him as "moody and distressed", although she noted that since 2009 he had been "showing some improvement".

The judge said that, in concluding that Mr Raggett had certain personality traits which had caused difficulties in his personal, social and employment life, she did not intend to suggest he was to blame for that.

Mr Raggett now works as a counsellor and psychotherapist from a practice in South Kensington.

When he was contacted after the hearing, he declined to comment. His solicitor Amanda Stevens was also unavailable.

The damages were broken down as ?40,000 plus ?4,344 interest, as well as ?10,579.03 for "special damages".