Catholic children’s home lawsuit ‘will go on’ after judge dismisses cases

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent
@harrietsherwood
Wednesday 21 December 2016

A lawyer for 249 men seeking compensation for alleged sexual abuse at a Catholic children’s home has vowed to continue with one of the largest compensation claims against the church despite a judge dismissing three of the first test cases.

The high court in Leeds awarded one of the claimants £14,000 in compensation and ruled against three other men. Judgment in a fifth case will be given next month.

The men’s lawyer, David Greenwood of Switalskis, said outside court: “This is a skirmish; we will win the ultimate war.”

The claims were made against the diocese of Middlesbrough and the De La Salle Institute, which ran the St William’s children’s home in Market Weighton, east Yorkshire.

The civil case followed the imprisonment earlier this year of the home’s former principal and chaplain for sexual offences against 11 boys between 1970 and 1991.

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