150 lose abuse fight against Nazareth nuns

150 lose abuse fight against Nazareth nuns

AROUND 150 child abuse cases against a group of nuns will be thrown out of court after a test case today. Elizabeth Abernethy had sued the Poor Sisters of Nazareth for £50,000 compensation for alleged mistreatment at Nazareth House, in Cardonald, Glasgow. But a judge in the Court of Session today ruled her case was time barred and should be dismissed. About 150 other claims against the Catholic religious order will also fall. The case involving 55-year-old Mrs Abernethy had been chosen as a test case on several points of law. After today's ruling by Gordon Coutts QC, solicitor Cameron Fyfe said: "This decision was expected, but it is not the end of the road. MSPs are looking at the possibility of changing the law and if that were to happen, these people might still have an action. "By Mr Coutts' judgment, around 150 actions like Mrs Abernethy's will have gone unless the Scottish Parliament can rescue them." Mrs Abernethy now of Liverpool, was taken to Nazareth House as a three-month-old baby and left at 11 when to go to a convent on Merseyside. Although she left Nazareth House in 1959, she did not raise proceedings against the religious order until 2000. She said she was regularly assaulted from the age of five either as punishment or as deterrent. Mrs Abernethy said one nun, now dead, regularly told her she was mentally retarded. She was told the Devil was in her and she would not get to Heaven. The religious order denied the claims and its lawyers argued that the case should be found to be time-barred. Nobody from Nazareth House was available for comment today. A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland said: "This is an autonomous group and the church is not involved in these cases. Anyone, anytime, in any place who has suffered abuse at the hands of a group with links to the Catholic Church deserves an apology." In another high-profile case four years ago, Sister Alphonso of Nazareth House in Aberdeen was found guilty of the abuse of children aged eight to 17 in her care in the 1960s. However, a week later she was admonished by a judge, who said he would have considered a custodial sentence had it not been for Sister Alphonso's age, state of health, lack of previous convictions and the length of time since the offences were committed. The Scottish Law Commission is now reviewing the issue of time barring for the Executive. The review was sparked amid concerns that victims of asbestos-related diseases may lose out on compensation payments. 23/08/04