A man who suffered chronic post-traumatic stress disorder after he was sexually abused as a child by his national school teacher has been awarded €272,910 damages by a High Court jury.
The award was made against Michael Feeney (73) of Ballybay, Co Monaghan, and who was a senior GAA official in Ulster. He pleaded guilty in November 2000 to charges of sexual abuse and was jailed for three years.
After hearing evidence yesterday from the 56-year-old victim, a father of two, and from a psychologist and a psychiatrist, and submissions today from cousel for both sides, the jury began to consider their verdict.
They decided to award the man €136,910 damages for personal injuries to date and into the future and a futher €136,000 in aggravated damages.
The court was told the plaintiff, who has serious health problems, was a pupil at Ballybay boys national school from 1956 to 1958. He said that in the course of teaching, Feeney would sit beside him in his desk and fondle his genitals.