Man abused by monks as a child awarded £317,000 damages

A man who was sexually abused by monks at a children’s home has been awarded more than £300,000 in damages.

Victim T, who wished to remain anonymous, stayed at St Ninian’s School in Falkland, Fife, between January 1979 and December 1980.

There he was raped, beaten and molested by Brother Farrell, who was jailed in 2016, and Brother Ryan, who died in 2013.

He said the Congregation of Christian Brothers attempted to “buy off” his claim with an £82,000 cheque last year, but a sheriff this week ordered the group to pay nearly four times more.

Victim T said: “Those monsters robbed me of a childhood, a living and the ability to simply connect with other people.

“I now hope to move on with my life and hope other victims out there find justice as well.

“I’ve had to persevere my whole life.

“It was hard because when there were hard days it made me difficult to be around and people just thought that was my personality, but it wasn’t.

“They had to know my past to understand my present but I couldn’t tell anyone when I could barely cope with it privately.”

Victim T raised a civil action in the Court of Session in Edinburgh, and Sheriff Kenneth McGowan ordered the Christian Brothers to pay £317,000 in damages.

In a written judgment he said: “The severity of the abuse in this case and the damage suffered by the pursuer justify an award near the top of the scale for cases of this nature.”

Brother Ryan would frequently get drunk and enter Victim T’s bedroom to rape him, while Brother Farrell would also consume alcohol and molest Victim T on separate occasions.

St Ninian’s is one of the institutes that have featured in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, chaired by Lady Smith.

Victim T added: “When I heard of the sheriff’s judgment I just broke down with relief – especially after the Christian Brothers tried to buy me off with an unfair, unrealistic and frankly insulting settlement.

“What’s more sickening is their secret offers totally conflict with the assurances and pledges they gave the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

“Justice needs to be seen to be done for it to have any merit in society so for me it’s not enough to receive compensation.

“The Christian Brothers need to be held accountable and need to be exposed for the hypocrisy of their public words and private actions.”