Part of Kincora civil actions brought by ​two former residents dismissed in High Court ruling

A judge granted preliminary applications by the PSNI and the Home Secretary to strike out claims for negligence and misfeasance in public office within wider lawsuits being mounted by Richard Kerr and Gary Hoy.

The decision was reached amid allegations that the authorities blocked inquiries into a paedophile housemaster at Kincora because of his status as a police and MI5 agent.

Mr Kerr and Mr Hoy are suing the Chief Constable, the Home Office and the Department of Health over the ordeals they endured after being sent to the home during the 1970s.

They are seeking damages in a case which featured claims for assault and battery, misfeasance in public office, breach of statutory duty and negligence.

With liability denied, the defendants dispute responsibility for any violation in the duty of care to those targeted at the children’s home which was finally demolished last year.

At the centre of the action is the role played by staff member William McGrath, who became known as the ‘Beast of Kincora’.

The senior care worker was jailed in 1981 for abusing boys as part of a paedophile ring operated within the facilities.

McGrath, who died in the early 1990s, also held a leading position in the far-right loyalist movement Tara.

Lawyers for Mr Hoy and Mr Kerr argued that the authorities enabled him to target young victims so that more information about the grouping could be obtained.

The alleged liability went beyond omissions in a duty owed to vulnerable children to actively obstructing police officers from investigating and pursuing McGarth, it was contended.

The abuse he perpetrated was allegedly allowed to continue specifically because of his role as an MI5 agent.

Counsel for the Chief Constable and Home Secretary insisted there was no basis for establishing any malice.

She also told the court her clients should not have parental responsibility duties conferred on them in the case.

Ruling on the preliminary applications, Master Bell identified no basis to hold the defendants vicariously liable for the paedophile housemaster’s activities.

“The opportunity to abuse children at Kincora came to Mr McGrath by virtue of his employment by the Belfast Welfare Authority alone, and not by virtue of any employment he may have had as a police agent,” he pointed out.

He granted the Chief Constable and Home Secretary’s applications to strike out both the negligence and misfeasance claims against them on the basis there was no reasonable cause of action.

“There was a total absence of any factual basis upon which a finding of malice could be found or even inferred,” the judge added.

However, he rejected a wider attempt to have the compensation claims completely thrown out on the grounds of delay.

Meanwhile, another part of Mr Kerr’s claim against the Northern Ireland Office over his treatment during a separate period spent at Millisle Borstal is also to proceed.

“It is obvious and indisputable that allegations that a named prison officer has committed physical and sexual abuse against someone detained in an institution must amount to allegations of misfeasance in public office,” Master Bell said.

“Hence Mr Kerr’s claim of misfeasance in public office against the Northern Ireland Office must continue.”

A solicitor representing both Mr Kerr and Mr Hoy confirmed they plan to challenge the decision to strike out part of their actions.

Claire McKeegan said: “We will be seeking an expedited hearing at the Court of Appeal in the new term.”