THE PRESIDENT of the High Court has ordered a Dublin man to pay €100,000 damages to his nephew, whom he sexually abused on a number of occasions from about 30 years ago.
Keith Battersby (36) sued his uncle John O’Neill (45) who he said committed 12 sexual assaults on him between 1982 and 1984.
The abuse began when Mr Battersby was aged six and his uncle was 15. It occurred in O’Neill’s home and in the projection room of the Grove Cinema in Lucan, where O’Neill worked.
O’Neill was convicted in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in 2010 of sexually assaulting his nephew and was given a suspended two-year sentence. Yesterday, Mr Battersby told the High Court O’Neill was “a monster” who “stole his childhood”.
Mr Battersby’s action was not contested and judgment was previously entered against O’Neill. The matter was before the court yesterday for assessment of damages only. O’Neill, Sarsfield Park, Lucan, Co Dublin was in court but was not legally represented. He said he was deeply sorry for what he had done and a letter of apology was handed to the court.
What he did occurred when he was a teenager, he said. Following media reports of the criminal case he had lost his job and was trying to rebuild his life, he added.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns said Mr Battersby was entitled to €100,000 damages, plus costs, against O’Neill. Mr Battersby had been subject to abuse at a young age which had been a “horrific experience”.
Earlier, in his evidence, Mr Battersby, Kill Fada, Co Meath, said it was very difficult to be in court near the man who had abused him. His uncle’s apology meant nothing to him. The abuse had badly affected his life, he had developed a problem with alcohol in his teens and had dabbled with drugs, he said. He eventually told a family member in 2000 and made a complaint to the Garda in 2008.
He told his counsel, Jack Fitz-Gerald SC, he did not get justice at the Criminal Court but rather a judgment.
In a letter read to the court, Mr Battersby said: “Even today, there is never any freedom from what my uncle has subjected me to.” He had tried hard to bury the degrading feelings his uncle had created in him but seeing his uncle in court brought back bigger fears now than when he was a child.
Addressing O’Neill in the letter, he said: “You have stolen a childhood that was full of love and turned it into fear. You took something which obviously had no value for you but was my very being.” His life was “only a shadow of what it could have been”.