The parents of a Kilkenny woman who died by suicide have sued a man who sexually abused her as a child which they claim caused her death.
Jane Roberts (26), a carpenter, of Coolcashin, Gathabawn, Co Kilkenny committed suicide in October 2000. She had been suffering from psychiatric illness and had been treated at psychiatric hospitals in Kilkenny and Carlow during the 18 months before her death.
In 1999, she had gone to gardaí and lodged a complaint that she had been sexually abused 18 years earlier by a neighbour, John Bowden, in the public swimming pool at Thurles, Co Tipperary.
Mr Bowden was arrested, admitted the offence and a file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. However no prosecution was brought as she died a year later.
Her parents, Dave and Lil Roberts, then decided to take a civil action against Mr Bowden, now aged 62, a retired postman of Baleen, Gathabawn for the wrongful death of their daughter.
In the case at Kilkenny Circuit Court, Mr Bowden, through his legal team, has apologised to Mr Roberts who said he could not accept the apology.
Two leading psychiatrists have disagreed over the cause of Ms Roberts' death. Neither was involved in treating Ms Roberts and their evidence was based on assessing her medical records.
Yesterday, continuing his evidence for the Roberts family, consultant psychiatrist Brian McCaffery said he believed Ms Roberts developed a severe psychiatric illness as a result of being sexually abused at the age of eight. Mr McCaffery told the court he had worked with many victims of sexual abuse and sexual assault and that Ms Roberts had endured a "life-threatening experience at the swimming pool" .
He said she had gone through a terrible, traumatic time and years later she had developed very complex illnesses which included borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression. She had also demonstrated suicidal tendencies.
He rejected suggestions from Aidan Doyle, counsel for Mr Bowden, that she was suffering from schizophrenia or schizo-affective psychosis. He said she had been on a lot of medication including lithium. He described her as a warm sensitive girl struggling to make sense of what happened to her.
However, Mr Doyle told the judge Mr McCaffery had failed to prove "factual causation" between what had happened to Ms Roberts in Thurles as a child and her suicide.
Mr Doyle said the court simply has an opinion based on a reading of her medical records that the sexual abuse could in some way have provoked the suicide but not been the cause.
Dr James Morrisson, a consultant psychiatrist who gave evidence on behalf of Mr Bowden, said he believed Ms Roberts was suffering from schizo-affective disorder, a form of psychosis - the cause of which could not be explained. He said her level of medication showed she was very unstable. The court heard there were no references to the sexual abuse in suicide notes left by Ms Roberts.
Judge Alice Doyle reserved judgment and adjourned the case.