Hundreds of victims of child sex abuse are not entitled to compensation, a judge ruled in a test case in the High Court in Belfast yesterday.
Mr Justice Girvan dismissed an application for judicial review brought by a woman, now aged 25, whose sexual abuse began when she was 11.
The man responsible, who was a friend of her mother, was later jailed for eight years. She now suffers from severe sexual dysfunction, said the judge, and will require extensive therapy.
The woman was initially refused statutory compensation because at the time she applied she was eight months over the age limit of 21. She then applied for an ex-gratia payment but was also turned down.
Her lawyers challenged the decision, and in a reserved judgment Mr Justice Girvan said the Secretary of State could not rely on the royal prerogative to introduce a system of paying ex-gratia compensation.
The judge said that even if the Secretary of State made out a special case, the Treasury would be bound to consider the financial implications of funding individual ex-gratia payments.