Man ‘beaten at school 60 years ago’ to receive £50k

A MAN allegedly subjected to “horrific” abuse at a Catholic-run school in Belfast 60 years ago is to receive a £50,000 payout.

The 73-year-old claimed he suffered beatings with a strap and bunch of keys, and was forced to sleep on a mattress with bare springs at St Patrick’s Training School.

His legal action against the De La Salle Order, who ran the facilities on the Glen Road, was settled at the High Court yesterday.

Mr Justice Maguire was told an award of £50,000 plus costs is to be made.

The man, who is not being named, was 13 when he was placed as a resident at St Patrick’s in 1959.

During a two-year stay, he claimed some of the brothers who ran the facilities inflicted physical abuse he described as torture.

He alleged that he was subjected to a raft of assaults, including being beaten, punched, kicked and hit on the ear with a bunch of keys.

Other attacks were carried out with a strap, with no steps taken to protect him when he complained, according to his case.

He also claimed that he had to sleep on a mattress with bare springs as part of persistent treatment which left him mentally scarred.

St Patrick’s Training School was among the juvenile detention centres examined by the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry set up to investigate decades of child abuse at state and religious-run homes in Northern Ireland.

In 2017 the tribunal, chaired by the late Sir Anthony Hart, found systemic failings at the school.

The man’s claim for damages against the De La Salle Order was settled without any admission of liability made in court.