A 38-YEAR-OLD Dublin woman who sued her father for damages for sexual assault carried out when she was aged between two and 12 was yesterday awarded €375,000 in the High Court.
Mother of three Ailish Smith, of Templeview Lawn, Clarehall, Dublin, consented during the trial to the waiving of her anonymity so that her father could be named in the media.
The court heard that her father, Gerard Smith, of Magenta Hall, Santry, Dublin, had been convicted and sentenced in 2006 to six years’ imprisonment with two years suspended.
He had pleaded guilty to five sample charges relating to the most serious incidents of abuse of his daughter in the 1980s when his wife was out of the house.
Ms Smith brought a High Court action for damages for sexual assault against her father. Liability in the case was not contested but the defence had argued the case had been brought outside statutory time limitations.
Last month Ms Smith told the court the abuse initially involved her father touching her genitals but later he had got her to perform oral sex. The abuse had stopped about the age of 12.
Mr Justice Eamon de Valera yesterday told Ms Smith’s barrister, Seán Ó Siothcháin, that he would have awarded her €450,000 damages, similar to an award he had made in an earlier sexual assault case.
He said the Supreme Court had capped that award on appeal at €375,000 and, in line with that ruling, he was awarding Ms Smith that figure together with costs.
Ms Smith had told the court the abuse had a devastating effect on her. Her solicitor, David Christie, in a joint statement issued following yesterday’s judgment, said Ms Smith was relieved and pleased with the outcome.
Mr Justice de Valera dismissed the application that Ms Smith’s claim was out of time and ruled she was entitled to maintain her claim against her father. He ruled her will had been impaired up until 2004. During the hearing, Ms Smith’s mother had denied she had tried to silence her daughter about the assaults.