Court cuts rape victim’s damages by €250,000
The court, reducing the award to €350,000, said the abuse suffered by the woman, now in her 20s, was not a “worst case scenario”.
Sexual abuse support groups were last night examining the judgment. Fiona Neary of the Rape Crisis Network said: “We acknowledge the remarks made by the court that when the perpetrator pleads guilty, the victim is saved the indignity of having to take the witness stand.
“The difference between the two court awards is significant and the judgment is something I will examine closely with my colleagues.”
The High Court decision was the first award of damages for sexual abuse by a civil jury.
The appeal was brought by Simon Murphy from The Hollow, Ramsgrange, near New Ross, Co Wexford. He had been sentenced to eight years imprisonment for sexually abusing four women, with two years suspended.
The abuse by Murphy occurred between 1990 and 1995 when the victim was aged between 12 and 17.
The High Court had been told Murphy had admitted the abuse and the only issue for the jury was the amount of damages. In the Supreme Court, it was submitted that the jury’s award was excessive.
Ms Justice Susan Denham said yesterday it was the first appeal before the Supreme Court from a jury award of damages for sexual assault, sexual abuse and rape of a teenage girl.
Consequently, she said, there were no precedents to guide the court.
Ms Justice Denham, with whose judgment Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan and Mr Justice Brian McCracken agreed, said there was no doubt the case was one in which a jury would be entitled to award substantial damages. But the damages awarded must be fair and reasonable, she added.
Her judgment was that the €600,000 awarded by the jury was so far in excess of a reasonable award that it was disproportionate and should be set aside.
Ms Justice Denham said no amount of money would retrieve the woman’s childhood or repair the emotional damage suffered. However, she said although this case was severe and serious it was not the worst case scenario that the courts had to deal with from what she described as “the dark side of Irish society”.
The fact that Murphy pleaded guilty and offered an apology for his actions would help alleviate the victim’s suffering, she said.
