Catholic Church ordered to pay £400,000 compensation to man abused by priest

A Roman Catholic diocese has been ordered to hand over more than £400,000 to a man who was sexually abused by a priest almost 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 a primary school in Ayrshire.

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 hasn’t been identified, targeted the boy again when he was around 14 to 16 while he was a boarding pupil at a secondary school in the Highlands.

The court heard how the priest died in 2021.

The diocese accepted that the priest, who was convicted of sexual abuse, preyed on the boy at the primary school. 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 the boy’s subsequent poor mental health.

In a written judgement issued by the court on Monday, 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 [the school] 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 tells of how during the period of his childhood and 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.

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.

He referred to the new safeguarding guidelines adopted by the Catholic Church.

Lawyers for the church acknowledged that the victim was subject to “serious childhood sexual abuse”.

In his written judgement, Lord Clark awarded the man £473,250 in compensation. He had already received around £357,000 in payments from various sources including the priest’s estate.

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.”