A man who was sexually abused by monks at a children’s home has been awarded more than £317,000 in damages.
The survivor, known only as Victim T, was raped, beaten and molested while staying at St Ninian’s School in Falkland, Fife, between January 1979 and December 1980.
The horrific attacks were carried out by Brother Farrell, who was jailed for the sickening crimes in 2016, and Brother Ryan who is now dead.
Victim T, who cannot be named for legal reasons, now suffers from PTSD and hyper-vigilance as a result of the abuse.
Last year, he was offered a cheque for £82,000 by The Congregation of Christian Brothers in an attempt to settle his claim for compensation.
But he went to the All-Scotland Personal Injury Court and has now been awarded £317,224 by Sheriff Kenneth McGowan.
Under the care of the Christian Brothers the victim suffered repeated and horrific attacks when he was aged 12.
At weekends Brother Ryan would frequently get drunk then enter Victim T’s bedroom and rape him while Brother Farrell would also consume alcohol and molest him on separate occasions.
Dozens of children are feared to have been targeted at St Ninian’s in light of evidence heard at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and it is thought Victim T was singled out because he was smaller than the other boys.
Brother Farrell was convicted of three indecent assault charges in July 2016 and was sentenced to five years in prison, while Brother Ryan died in July 2013 before ever being investigated, but it was ruled that his attacks did occur.
Victim T, who wishes to remain anonymous, 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.”
He 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.”
In a written judgment, Sheriff McGowan 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.
“A number of seriously aggravating features were present. “The damage caused by the abuse had resulted in life-long psychiatric injury in the form of PTSD which T will suffer for the rest of his life; he had suffered a profound and permanent effect in his well-being and quality of life.
“Major aspects of his life had suffered impact; he had specific problems with anger-management, stress, depression, low-self-worth, problems with sleeping and nightmares, hyper vigilance, lack of trust and had attempted suicide on repeated occasions.
“The pursuer was unable to disclose the abuse for many years; suffered the ordeal of giving evidence at Farrell’s trial and in this action; and his employment options had been restricted and his career progression hampered and delayed.
“The sexual abuse was of a very serious kind and became a regular feature of the pursuer’s life at the residential school whilst he was there.”
Kim Leslie, partner at Digby Brown Solicitors, said: “I have the utmost respect to our client for finding the strength to step forward, not just to help convict Brother Farrell but hold the Christian Brothers accountable as an entity.
“Not all of these cases need to go to court but we are always prepared for it because it’s the only way our clients have the best possible chance to obtain the justice, damages and recognition they deserve.”
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