Child abuse claims will be easier to bring following a landmark Court of Appeal decision to lift the limitation barrier for two claimants.
In AB and Ors v Nugent Care Society [2009] EWCA Civ 827, the claimants were once resident at St Aidan’s children’s home in Widnes, run by the Catholic Nugent Care society, which closed in 1982. They brought a claim for damages following alleged sexual abuse between 1968 and 1980.
The court recognised for the first time that an abuser no longer needs to be alive as long as it is the shame of the abuse and the victim’s psychological condition that has caused the delay.
The decision also means legal proceedings can begin, even in the absence of criminal convictions against an abuser, and the categories of abuse that can be put before a court are now much wider.
The court followed the House of Lords ruling in A v Hoare [2008] UKHL 6, which allowed judges greater discretion in interpreting s 33 of the Limitation Act 1980 in abuse cases.
Paul Durkin, co-ordinating solicitor at Abney, Garsden, McDonald, which is representing 40 clients with similar claims, says: “This ruling is hugely significant and makes it easier for victims to pursue claims for damages, victims who have been fought by defendants for many years, often on technical details and through lengthy and stressful court hearings. Now, though a lengthy delay, will not necessarily prevent a court exercising discretion in lifting the limitation barrier, even where an alleged abuser has died and there are no criminal convictions for abuse.”
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