UNITED KINGDOM
Premier
Tue 26 Jan 2016
By Marcus Jones
A group of survivors of child abuse within the Catholic Church are preparing to take their former diocese to court after allegations of an institutional cover-up.
The claims date back to the 1950s and relate to pupils at St Bede’s in Manchester.
Lawyers have begun proceedings on behalf of the victims who were aged between 11 and 15 at the time of the abuse and say they hope the positivity given to the release of a Hollywood movie about abuse will help the case.
Thomas Beale, of London-based child abuse lawyers AO Advocates, said there were “significant” similarities between the film ‘Spotlight’ and the allegations of abuse at St Bede’s Catholic school in Manchester decades ago.
The movie which is due to be released in the UK next week has been tipped for Oscars success. Starring Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, it tells the true story of how the Boston Globe’s journalists uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic archdiocese.
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