Aggravated damages in sexual abuse case where defendant made accusation of false allegations

Personal injuries – man alleges that he was sexually abused by a man who was in loco parentis towards him between ages of 7 and 10 - family circumstances – his mother was in a relationship with this man – they had two daughters – the relationship ended – mother moved to Kerry – met and began a relationship with his father – they had two children, the plaintiff and his sister – on school holidays they would stay with the abuser – abused in car and living room and on holiday – abuser argued that the allegations were a total fabrication – concocted by the plaintiff’s father, who was jealous of the good relationship which the abuser had with the plaintiff’s mother – attempt to wrongfully extract money from him - allegations of sexual abuse - badly affected by the abuse and had missed a lot of time from school – counselling - fallen out with his two half-sisters, who did not believe the allegations - mother had also fallen out with her two daughters – mother’s evidence – father’s evidence - father’s ex-wife’s evidence - social worker’s evidence - impact of the abuse on the plaintiff and the need for follow up treatment - no reason to doubt the plaintiff – evidence of the two daughters of the abuser – plaintiff’s father hit him – abuser’s evidence - convicted in the District Court and that he then appealed to the Circuit Court, where he had been convicted again – Court believed the plaintiff’s evidence - gave detailed evidence in relation to the various assaults, which had been perpetrated against him by the abuser - consistent in the allegations that he has made – Court satisfied that his consistency in making these allegations, is not due to any pressure which may have been exerted upon him by his father but rather is due to the fact that the allegations are true – Court satisfied that the abuser was not telling the truth – quantum of damages - served a term of imprisonment in respect of the offences with which he was charged - paid his debt to society – plaintiff has not alleged that he has suffered any definable psychiatric injury as a result of these assaults - no medical evidence - Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome - the tort of trespass to the person, does not require any definable physical or psychiatric injury to be present, before such a trespass to the person can be actionable - court is entitled to have regard to the nature of the assault, the circumstances in which it was perpetrated, the frequency and duration of the assaults and the age of the victim at the time the assaults were carried out - missed a lot of time from school due to receiving counselling - continues to receive counselling up to the present time - lost contact with his half-sisters - level of general damages for sexual assault - relevant factors to consider - award of damages must be proportionate; it must be fair to the plaintiff and to the defendant; it should be proportionate to social conditions, bearing in mind the common good; and it should be proportionate with the legal scheme of awards made for other personal injuries - actions of the abuser - very full defence - made the separate claim that the plaintiff had been coached to make false allegations due to a desire on the part of the plaintiff and others to extract money wrongfully from him - regard to the fact that the abuse was carried out over a number of years and at a time when the plaintiff was particularly vulnerable, being a young boy aged 7 to ten – Court awarded the plaintiff €105,000.00 for general damages - aggravated damages to take account of the fact that both in his pleadings and in his evidence, the abuser made the allegation that the plaintiff had been coached by his father to make these false allegations against him - award the plaintiff €25,000.00 as aggravated damages.