A man's High Court action seeking compensation for sexual abuse he says he suffered as a schoolboy at the hands of a Christian Brother teacher can continue, a judge has ruled.
The man claims Brother Sean Drummond, who in 2009 was jailed for two years for indecently assaulting 19 boys in Creagh Lane primary school in Limerick in the 1960s, abused him when he was a pupil in that same school around the same time.
Prior to that criminal prosecution, the man had in 2006 brought High Court damages proceedings against the Christian Brothers order, Ireland and the Attorney General in 2006.
Due to a long-running separate landmark case of Louise O'Keeffe and the issue of the vicarious liability of the State for damages for sexual abuse in schools, the man's case against the State parties was discontinued in 2016.
In 2021, the Christian Brothers, as the only defendant left in the proceedings, asked the High Court to strike out the man's case for delay.
'Inexcusable delay'
Mr Justice Cian Ferriter, in a judgment, rejected the Christian Brothers' application saying while there had been an inexcusable delay for some eight and a half years, the balance of justice required that the proceedings should not be dismissed.
The man claims that the abuse occurred "on or about" 1965 to 1972 when he was in fourth, fifth and sixth class, and when he was kept back for a further year.
Drummond, who later married and had five children and who lived in Broadford Drive, Ballinteer, Dublin, pleaded guilty in 2009 to 36 separate charges relating to the indecent assault on 19 school pupils.
The man, in his action for damages, claimed as a result of the abuse he suffered he had chronic issues his entire life. These included drug addiction problem up until 2000, and he continued to suffer from chronic depression and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.
Dismissing the Christian Brothers' application for a strike out, Mr Justice Ferriter said he was conscious that an extremely lengthy period of time has elapsed since the occurrence of the events which are the subject of these proceedings.
This was a factor which must weigh significantly in assessing whether the balance of justice favoured the dismissal of the proceedings at this point.
The legal authorities make clear that the greater the lapse of time between the events the subject of the proceedings and the trial of the proceedings, the greater the risk that prejudice may result to the defendant.
"However, in my view, in the very particular circumstances of this case, there are a number of factors which when considered cumulatively tip the balance of justice in favour of the proceedings not being dismissed", he said.
Those factors, he said, included that Brother Drummond has been convicted of the offences which are the subject of the man's proceedings.
In light of this, and the other factors in this case ,it was the judge's view the balance of justice favoured the plaintiff being permitted to proceed with his action.
