The Court of Appeal has cleared the way for a man to proceeed with his claim for damages against the Brothers of Charity over alleged sexual and physical abuse of him in a west of Ireland school some 40 years ago.
The three-judge court allowed the appeal by the man over a 2016 High Court decision halting his action on grounds the Brothers would be unable to obtain a fair trial because of the death of the alleged abuser and lapse of time between the alleged abuse and the proceedings.
The man, aged in his fifties with a family, alleges that, as well as being sexually abused by a now deceased Brother, he was also physically abused by the school principal.
He was aged between eight and 12 years when the abuse happened, he says.
Ms Justice Marie Baker, on behalf of the court, said the High Court erred in coming to the view that the primary action or essential nature of the man’s case was the sexual assault allegation.
There might well be a difficulty at the trial of the case in decoupling the alleged sexual from the physical abuse, she said.
Because the first physical abuse allegedly occurred after the boy complained of the sexual assault and was told “not to be saying things like that”, it seemed the physical assault claim may be separately maintained, she said.
The defendant had not established any prejudice in relation to defending that claim, she held.
The principal is still alive, she also noted.
She also found the delay in progressing the case, which began in 2001, was excusable.
The delay was excusable in circumstances where the man was mild mentally handicapped, illiterate and had received a 12 year prison sentence some years ago for a serious assault on a person whom he alleged had assaulted his teenage daughter.
Ms Justice Baker, in allowing the appeal, stressed there must be no further delay in the prosecution of the proceedings and directed an application should be made to list the case before the High Court before the end of this month.