Man Fails in Bid to Sue Disgraced Cardinal Keith O'Brien for £100,000 over Claims He Was Abused by Parish Priest
By Brian Horne
THE 33-year-old, from Bathgate, who alleges he was molested by a priest between 1989 and 1992 says O'Brien and other church figures should take the blame but was told he had left it too late to raise action. A MAN has failed in a bid to sue disgraced cardinal Keith O’Brien for £100,000 over sex abuse by a parish priest. He claims he was given cash and rosary beads to buy his silence. The priest he blames for molesting him between 1989 and 1992 has since died. The 33-year-old man, of Bathgate, West Lothian, went to the Court of Session in Edinburgh seeking £100,000 damages. He claimed O’Brien and other senior figures in the Catholic Church in Scotland should carry the blame. The churchmen named in the action are the trustees of the Archdiocese of St Andews and Edinburgh. But judge Paul Arthurson QC was told that the man had left it too late to raise his action. Normally, there is a three-year time bar from the time of the incident or when the person suing reaches the age of 16. Lawyers for the Church argued that there were no reasons why the man should not have begun legal moves sooner and the judge ruled in their favour. O’Brien resigned in February after admitting sexual misconduct.
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