A WOMAN has obtained judgment for €100,000 and an apology from a neighbour over sexual abuse of her as a child.
Yvonne Yelverton, formerly of Ash Close, Elmpark, Castletroy, Limerick, had sued David Greer, a plumber, Cairn Lodge, Ballysimon, Limerick, for personal injury arising out of a number of indecent assaults on her between 1984 and 1985.
Richard Kean SC, for Ms Yelverton, said yesterday the matter had been settled on the basis of an apology being read out in court and a judgment for €100,000 being entered against Greer.
Mr Kean said Greer was “a man of straw” and judgment was being entered on the basis it would not be executed until June 1st.
If the money was not paid, the case was to be re-entered on the basis it would proceed as an assessment of damages only with yesterday’s settlement to be vacated, Mr Kean added.
Joseph Jackson, for Greer, read an apology on behalf of his client in which he said he wished “to sincerely apologise to Yvonne Yelverton and her family for the sexual assaults I committed upon her as a young girl”.
Greer said he fully accepted the assaults had caused Ms Yelverton physical and psychological damage. “I regret it completely,” he said.
In her claim, Ms Yelverton said Greer was a neighbour and friend of her parents.
She said the assaults occurred when he took her for drives and also took place at houses in which he was working and in his own house.