A 43-year-old woman was yesterday awarded record damages of €1.7 million plus costs by a High Court jury in her action against her 86-year-old father for sexually and physically abusing her over a 10-year period when she was a child.
The court heard Joan Hunt was sexually abused from the age of four, was at one point tied up in a black refuse sack by her father as a punishment for wetting the bed and was subjected by him to "an appalling litany of horror".
Mrs Hunt, a mother of six, said the amount of the award, which is almost certain to be appealed, reflects society's "outrage" against child abusers and the damage they inflict.
The award was made by a jury of eight women and four men in a civil action taken by Mrs Hunt, Hillsbrook Grove, Perrystown, Dublin, against her father, John McNamara, of Killaderry, Dain- gean, Co Offaly. Mr McNamara had been given a two-year suspended jail sentence in criminal proceedings in 2003 arising from the abuse.
Liability in the High Court action was admitted and the jury was asked to assess damages only. No evidence was called by the defence.
The court heard the abuse took place at the McNamaras' holiday home in Co Offaly when they came home from Scotland, where they lived while the father worked with British Rail, and where Mrs Hunt was born. It is understood that the father has a house and plot of land in Co Offaly.
Following yesterday's award by the jury after an absence of 45 minutes, Mrs Hunt said she was "rattled and shaken" as well as being surprised by the amount of the award.
She said the amount showed that society was "appalled" and "outraged" by child abusers and by the damage they did to people's lives.
Mrs Hunt, who was accompanied by her husband, Tommy, whom she described as "fantastic", and some other members of her family, said she was grateful to them all for their support. She also thanked the Rape Crisis Centre for its support.
After the jury's finding, Mr Justice Eamon de Valera entered judgment for €1.7 million and costs and adjourned the case until Thursday next to allow lawyers for Mr McNamara to take instructions from him.
The adjourned hearing may deal with the question of whether there should be any order for part-payment in the event of an appeal to the Supreme Court going ahead. Oonagh McCrann SC, for Mrs Hunt, told the judge that nothing would be done on foot of the award pending the case coming before the court next week.
The award is by far the biggest made by a jury here and far exceeds a €600,000 award made last year to a young woman who was abused as a child by a Co Wexford publican. That award was reduced on appeal in the Supreme Court last month to €350,000.
In her action, Mrs Hunt claimed that, on dates from 1964 up to and including 1975, her father subjected her to a series of wilful assaults and batteries, sexual assaults, sexual abuse, trespass to the person and false imprisonment. He repeatedly sexually assaulted her from about the age of four. She was also regularly physically abused by her father. She was also placed in a black refuse sack by her father which was tied at the waist and chest. Only her head remained outside, it was claimed. This was done as a punishment for wetting the bed. Eventually she ran away from home.
In reply to Aileen Donnelly SC, also for Mrs Hunt, consultant psychiatrist Denis Murphy said she told him in 1993 that she was treated for symptoms of depression by her GP. She was treated for depression in 2000 and was taken to Tallaght Hospital after an overdose. She had counselling and alternative therapy.
The plaintiff had described difficulties in trusting people which she also related to the abuse in her childhood. She suffered post- traumatic stress disorder, which at a diminished severity level remained with her nowadays.
In her address to the jury, Ms McCrann said it had taken great courage on her client's part to tell in open court of the "sorry, sordid detail" of what had occurred to her as a child. There had been a litany of abuse and terror. She was a woman whose childhood had been "stolen" from her.
Geraldine Fitzpatrick SC, defending, asked the jury to bear in mind that the evidence had not been challenged in the High Court and in the criminal proceedings earlier. There had been no "step back" by the father by making it more difficult for his daughter to put the matter before the jury.
The judge said the jury should keep its sense of proportion and do justice to both sides without allowing their emotions to run away with them. He described Mrs Hunt as a remarkable woman who had "borne her cross remarkably well in the circumstances".