Singer gets €830,000 award over sex abuse

A METEOR Award-nominated singer was awarded €830,000 by a High Court jury against a man who sexually abused her when she was a child.

Majella Murphy, 37, who was nominated in the Best Irish Folk/ Traditional category two years ago, said the five-month prison sentence served by her abuser, 87-year-old Michael Butler, was less than some people had done for not having a TV licence.

Ms Murphy, who was abused from the age of eight, waived her right to anonymity when Butler received his prison sentence last year. A second Butler victim, a now 31-year-old man, was awarded €945,000 by the same jury after it found Butler had abused him between 1984 and 1991.