A retired company director at the centre of a landmark €4.7million sex abuse award may be suffering from dementia, the High Court was told yesterday.
Lawyers for Joseph Carrick indicated concerns about his mental state may lead to an application to set aside awards totalling €4.7 million granted by two High Court juries to Jacqueline O'Toole and Geraldine Nolan last November.
Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne had made orders freezing Carrick's assets and accounts below €5 million, apart from living and other expenses.
Last November, Ms O'Toole, Pearse Street, Dublin, who was raped and became pregnant by Carrick when she was a schoolgirl, was awarded a record €4 million damages.
Her cousin and best friend Ms Nolan, Townsend Street, Dublin, who was also raped and abused by Carrick, was awarded €700,000 damages by a separate jury.
Carrick (72), Carysfort Woods, Blackrock, Co Dublin, did not contest the case having discharged his lawyers prior to the hearings, saying he was unable to pay them. The awards were made in his absence.
He later obtained new lawyers and yesterday John Rogers SC said they had received instructions that there were serious questions about his client's mental capacity.
The judge has adjourned the matter for two weeks.