Family of man who was abused at Belfast children's home awarded £250,000 in damages

Mr Justice Simpson said the late John McGuinness’ life had been “blighted” by the treatment he suffered as a boy staying in Nazareth Lodge.

He also awarded £185,000 to a woman from the city for the beatings and humiliation she endured at the same home during the 1970s.

Patricia McClarnon, 59, said staff made her bathe in barely diluted disinfectant, rubbed her face in soiled bed linen and forced her to remain alone in a darkened storeroom.

Separate actions were taken against the Sisters of Nazareth religious order, who ran the facilities located on the Ravenhill Road.

Mr McGuiness spent two years in the home after being taken there in 1970 at the age of seven.

He claimed a number of nuns assaulted him, including one sister who used her knuckles to inflict blows.

Other beatings involved the use of a wooden clog, threats and warnings of further punishment if he told his mother or anyone else about what was happening to him. He further alleged that a handyman who worked at the premises subjected him to regular sexual assaults in the toilets.

Although Mr McGuinness died in 2020 at the age of 59, the lawsuit was taken on by his daughter Lindsay O’Neill.

In a related case, the court heard Ms McClarnon suffered a catalogue of abuse over the years she spent at the home. As well as being regularly humiliated in front of other residents for wetting the bed, she said any toys or food meant as gifts for her were never passed on by staff.

At Christmas parties, presents given to the children were taken from them once visitors had left.

One lay member of staff was specifically identified for meting out abuse to Ms McClarnon, according to her statement of claim. She was beaten every day, sometimes with a stick, and repeatedly put into either scalding or freezing cold baths.

Ms McClarnon described the food at the home as terrible, and if she didn’t eat what was given to her it would be re-served the following day.

Children were warned not to say anything to anyone about what was happening at the home but, as she put it, “Who was going to believe me if I told?” She said her experience at Nazareth Lodge has left her “completely drained”.

Both actions involved claims for negligence, assault, and battery and trespass to the person, based on failures to ensure the safety of children in care.

The defendants denied the extent of personal injuries, and argued that the form of alleged corporal punishment when Mr McGuinness was a resident had been “appropriate and commensurate to the accepted educational practices”.

It was also contended that the claims should be statute barred on grounds of delay.

But identifying no prejudice, Mr Justice Simpson held that liability had been established in each case.

“I am satisfied that Mr McGuinness was subject to physical and sexual abuse while in the care of the defendants,” he said.

Awarding £250,000 in damages to his estate, the judge added: “It is clear that the entirety of his life post-care was significantly blighted by what had happened to him while in the care of the

Defendants.”

He confirmed that Ms McClarnon is to receive a total pay-out of £185,000 for the physical and emotional abuse she suffered, along with its psychological impact.

Mr Justice Simpson pointed out: “Among other insults to pride and dignity which she complained of were being forced to bathe in water with disinfectant, leaving her with strong memories of the smell and the deliberate and repeated humiliation of her in front of others for having wet the bed - quite the antithesis of the concept of Christian love which the defendants would have said they espoused.”

The solicitor representing both victims declared the judgment as a full vindication of their decisions to go to trial.

Claire McKeegan of Phoenix Law said outside court: “It is important for survivors of abuse to be believed and put the shame of these matters back to the Church institutions who failed them.

“It is evident that the High Court in making these rulings and significant awards recognise the severe damage, pain and suffering caused by physical, emotional and sexual child abuse.”