Smyth's victims had their day in court. Twelve of his 20 victims attended the opening day of his hearing for sentencing on 74 charges of indecent and sexual assault which he has already pleaded guilty to.
Some of the victims summoned the inner strength to talk nervously of their childhood trauma from the witness-box. Others could only listen teary-eyed from the public gallery as their stories were told through victim impact statements read out by the prosecuting officer in charge of the case, Det Insp Thomas Dixon.
As Det Insp Dixon removed each statement from its brown envelope to read short extracts highlighted by a yellow marker, the pain of their broken lives spilled into the courtroom.
The double-spaced pages of the victim impact statements detailed abuse perpetrated over 35 years on children as young as six.
Smyth sat in the dock flanked by gardai, a small, round-shouldered figure in a blue open-neck shirt and grey cardigan. When the court rose for Judge Cyril Kelly to enter or exit, he had trouble standing.
Smyth's victims sat behind him in the public gallery while he stared straight ahead, his flabby face expressionless. Some glanced at him. Others glared at him as they passed him on their way to the witness-box.
The victims' statements painted a picture of Smyth as an avuncular figure who gave many of his victims cash or gifts, which included an expensive football kit, a lone-star cowboy holster, a Bible, a teddy bear and a camera.
He took them on trips, ostensibly to cinemas, pantomimes, concerts and the zoo and abused them in circumstances, said counsel for the state, Mr Patrick McCarthy, "where they were outside the control of their families".
One man, who Smyth had forced to masturbate him when he was aged
12, wrung his hands nervously as he spoke so softly he was barely audible. He said he hated Smyth and wanted to "slap" priests when he saw them. "I'd kill him, I'd kill him for everybody else," he said.
Many victims said in their impact statements they felt guilty they hadn't done anything to prevent others being abused after them. For most, their failure to report the abuse was due to their belief that their parents or those in authority wouldn't believe them. Judge
Cyril Kelly thanked each victim individually for telling their story, and said he hoped the experience would benefit them. The words of one victim showed that the experience may have been cathartic. Fixing
Smyth with an intent stare, she said she had come to court because:
"Through all my life growing up I have feared that man and today I
don't fear him anymore. Today is the beginning of my life."
Earlier, as he had entered the court, Smyth cackled and laughed at some photographers who taunted him as he entered. One had to him:
"Give us a kiss, Brendan."