The High Court has awarded €170,000 in damages to a woman who sued her uncle over sexual abuse she said occurred during her childhood, after finding that her capacity to bring the claim had been substantially impaired until 2015.
Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty delivered judgment on 16 June 2022. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant repeatedly indecently assaulted her at her grandfather’s home between the ages of five and 15, during the 1970s and 1980s. The defendant denied the allegations and represented himself at the civil hearing. He did not give evidence or call witnesses.
The court accepted the plaintiff’s evidence that the assaults probably occurred. It described her as a credible witness whose account was compelling and uncontradicted by other evidence. The judge noted that the defendant had asked two questions in cross-examination but did not treat his failure to put direct denials to the plaintiff as evidence against him.
The defendant had previously been convicted in separate criminal proceedings of several counts of indecent assault against the plaintiff. Those convictions related to 1976, when she was five. The civil court treated them as evidence supporting allegations from that year only. It said the convictions did not establish later allegations; the remaining criminal counts had resulted in directed acquittals or jury disagreement, which the judge said added nothing to either side’s case.
The defendant argued that the civil action was out of time. The plaintiff relied on a statutory provision for cases where wrongdoing substantially impaired a person’s ability to bring proceedings. Medical evidence included her general practitioner’s view that she could not initiate the civil case until the criminal process ended in 2015. The judge found her capacity had been substantially impaired until then and ruled that her 2016 action was brought within the permitted six years. The court also declined to dismiss the case for delay, finding no actual prejudice had been identified.
The judgment records that the defendant’s former solicitors came off record shortly before the scheduled hearing. The court granted brief adjournments while he pursued legal aid, but refused a further delay after finding that his application remained incomplete and that he had made little progress despite earlier notice of the trial date. He proceeded without a lawyer, with assistance from two McKenzie friends who could not address the court.
The award comprises €125,000 for the assaults and psychological effects, €20,000 for the worsening of the plaintiff’s bowel condition linked to stress, and €25,000 for future damages. The court declined to award aggravated damages, finding no comparable misconduct in how the defence was conducted, and said punitive damages were unnecessary given the prior criminal proceedings. Costs follow the event.