AYR (UNITED KINGDOM)
Irvine Times [Ardrossan, Scotland]
March 3, 2025
A Roman Catholic diocese has been ordered to hand over almost half-a-million pounds to a man who was sexually abused by a priest nearly 50 years ago.
Judge Lord Clark ordered the Diocese of Galloway to pay the male, who has not been identified for legal reasons, a total of £473,250 for the impact the abuse has had on his life.
Lawyers for the man raised an action against the church at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
They argued that their client was entitled to compensation for how the priest targeted the boy when he was around five or six-years-old at St Mark’s primary school in Irvine.
The court heard that the boy had sustained a serious psychiatric injury as a consequence of the abuse carried out on him and this impacted his ability to work and live his life.
The same priest, who also hasn’t been identified, targeted the boy again when he was around 14 to 16 whilst he was a boarding pupil at Fort Augustus Abbey secondary school in the highlands.
The priest died in 2021.
The diocese accepted that the priest, who was convicted of sexual abuse, preyed on the boy at St Mark’s. The church also agreed that it was “vicariously liable” for the abuse carried out on the boy.
Lawyers for the diocese argued that some of the causes of the man’s psychiatric injuries were attributable to other “adverse” life events.
But in a written judgement issued by the court on Monday, Lord Clark found that the abuse carried out on the boy was the most “prominent cause” of his subsequent poor mental health.
Lord Clark wrote: “This is a complex case in which there was serious and damaging sexual abuse of the pursuer when he was very young at primary school. He then suffered further abuse at secondary school, with sexual elements, and of a physical and emotional nature.
“That later abuse lasted longer than the first and may well, based on the medical literature, have had a profound effect on his life.
“But the devastating nature of the horrific sexual abuse at St Mark’s when he was a young child was the more prominent cause.
“That being so, he is entitled to an appropriate award of damages for that abuse.”
The action was raised against the diocese because the priest was within its area at the time of the offending.
The judgement states that during the period of his childhood, he suffered other adverse life experiences.
He has developed complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), originally diagnosed as severe PTSD in about 2012.
He did various forms of work throughout his life but eventually felt unable to continue in employment from about 2012 onwards.
Archbishop William Nolan, who was once Bishop of Galloway but is now Archbishop of Glasgow, gave evidence to proceedings.
He explained the duties of Catholic priests and the roles they play at primary schools. The court heard how he wrote a letter to the man shortly after the conviction of the priest – Lord Clark said the letter sought to “assist the pursuer”.
He referred to the now revamped safeguarding guidelines adopted by the Catholic Church in his evidence.
Lawyers for the church acknowledged that the pursuer was subject to “serious childhood sexual abuse at St Mark’s” and he has developed CPTSD, numerous other adverse life experiences have contributed to the development of the pursuer’s psychiatric condition.
They told the court that this included a “serious abduction and sexual assault perpetrated by an older girl whilst he was a child” and “several assaults by his stepfather and others”.
In his written judgement, Lord Clark originally awarded the man a total of £627,000 for the abuse carried out on him whilst a pupil at St Mark’s.
However, the judge noted that the man had already received £50,000 compensation for the abuse he had suffered from another church organisation and a representative of a person who had abused him whilst he was at Fort Augustus Abbey.
Lord Clark wrote that the man had also received £153,749.67 in respect of the abuse perpetrated at St Mark’s. Lord Clark said that £78,749.67 came from the priest’s estate which was paid in February 2024 and interim payments of £75,000 which had already been paid by the diocese.
Lord Clark concluded these payments meant that the final sum which was due to be handed over was £473,250.
Lord Clark wrote: “The impact on the pursuer and the harm from which he continues to suffer cannot adequately be addressed merely by an award of damages but it is hoped that, this matter now having been dealt with, the pursuer can move on with his life.”