Grammar paid pupil $150,000

TOOWOOMBA Grammar School paid a former student $150,000 over claims he was sexually abused while at the school.

The payment was detailed in a 91page judgment handed down last week, in which Justice Soraya Ryan ruled former teacher Meredith Rawlings seduced and sexually abused student Nicholas Brockhurst from 1996 to 1997.

TGS principal John Kinniburgh said the school was “not in a position” to comment on the matter.

COURT documents have revealed the amount Toowoomba Grammar School paid to a former student over sexual abuse claims.

Former TGS teacher Meredith Rawlings, who is now a high-profile Toowoomba restaurateur, was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 million in damages to Nicholas Brockhurst after the Supreme Court ruled she had seduced and sexually abused the child from the age of 13.

The published judgment from Justice Soraya Ryan also detailed a $150,000 payment TGS made to Mr Brockhurst.

“The plaintiff’s claim against TGS was compromised by way of the school’s payment to him of $150,000,” it stated.

“The parties spent a long time in submissions about whether and how much my award of damages to the plaintiff ought to be reduced to take into account that payment.”

Justice Ryan reduced Mrs Rawlings’ payable damages by $100,000 due to the TGS payment, bringing the total to $1,456,524.

Mr Brockhurst filed a claim against The Board of Trustees of the Toowoomba Grammar School on July 6, 2018.

This was the same day a claim was filed in the Supreme Court against Mrs Rawlings.

Nearly two years later, on May 18, 2020, a notice of discontinuance was filed on behalf of Mr Brockhurst.

TGS principal John Kinniburgh said the school was “not in a position” to comment on the matter.

“I appreciate that a settlement was referred to in the judgment,” Mr Kinniburgh said.

“However, the school is not in a position to make any further comment about the matter or the settlement.

“Toowoomba Grammar School has great empathy and concern for any former student who has experienced harm of any kind during their time at school.

“The wellbeing and safety of all students is our highest priority and we have policies and processes in place which promote the protection of students in our care.”