It is BBC anchorwoman Jackie Bird’s most famous interview and, even today, she finds the story of the man who almost got away with living his life over again utterly compelling.
15.02.2022 - 08:13 / dailyrecord.co.uk
A man who suffered horrific attacks by monks has been awarded £1.4 million in damages – the highest known sum ever paid out to a sex abuse survivor in Scotland.
The victim, who cannot be identified, was raped by a trio of notorious monks from the Christian Brothers religious sect.
Now 54, he was sent to its St Ninian’s residential school in February 1980, aged 12, and remained there until April 1981.
While at the school in Falkland, Fife, he was molested and beaten by Brothers Ryan, Farrell and Kelly, and even forced to watch attacks on other children.
The brothers targeted kids from a dormitory they referred to as “the favourite boys room”.
They frequently played ‘Ashes to Ashes’ by David Bowie during assaults – a song that continues to spark flashbacks for the victim.
He told how the attacks started as ‘punishment’ for swapping tuck shop snacks with other youngsters.
Following the ruling, he said: “Finally, after nearly 40 years, I’ve been acknowledged and those responsible can be exposed.”
He kept the abuse secret from his wife and daughter until opening up for the first time in 2013 when speaking to police.
He said: “I just broke down in tears. Until then I’d been living in my head for 30 years.
“I used to hide all my emotions. If there was something about abuse on the TV then I’d go to the toilet and hide so no one would see any reaction on my face.
“So when I finally spoke to the police there was a strange duality to everything.
“It was terrifying but empowering. Exhausting but freeing. Painful but therapeutic.”
In July 2016 Brother John Farrell, then 73, was convicted of four abuse charges while Brother Paul Kelly, then 64, was convicted of six at the High Court in Glasgow.
Farrell was jailed for five years and Kelly for
It is BBC anchorwoman Jackie Bird’s most famous interview and, even today, she finds the story of the man who almost got away with living his life over again utterly compelling.
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