Kincora Boys' Home victim to receive £100k settlement

A victim of sexual abuse at the notorious Kincora Boys' Home is to receive a £100,000 payout, it was announced in the High Court on Tuesday.

The settlement reached in Richard Kerr's civil action also involved police and two Stormont departments expressing "deep regret" about his childhood exploitation.

Kerr, 64, sued over claims he was trafficked and abused while a resident at the home in east Belfast and other institutions during the 1960s and 1970s.

A paedophile ring subjected him to years of rape and molestation in a campaign covered up by the British state, it was alleged.

Damages were sought against the Department of Health (DoH), the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the secretary of state for the Home Department.

The lawsuit involved claims for assault and battery, misfeasance in public office, breach of statutory duty and negligence.

In court on Tuesday, counsel for Kerr, Monye Anyadike-Danes KC, confirmed that action has been resolved.

The defendants, who deny liability, are to pay him £100,000 plus costs in a final settlement of all claims against them.

An agreed statement read out on behalf of the PSNI, DoH and DoJ acknowledged the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry previously found Kerr was sexually exploited and abused as a boy and young man, with no doubt about the serious adverse impact on his life.

"While these defendants do not accept liability, the plaintiff should not have been subjected to any abuse whatsoever, and it is a matter of deep regret to these defendants that he was," the statement added.

Kerr, who now lives in Dallas, Texas, spent more than two years at the now demolished Kincora home.

He also sued over his earlier treatment in care at Williamson House in north Belfast, and a later period at a borstal in County Down.

During his childhood he was allegedly plied with alcohol and sexually assaulted by a number of men on a number of occasions.

Court papers set out claims of being taken to hotels in Belfast, Portrush and Bangor to be abused.

According to his case he was also attacked while working at horse stables near Larne.

Another alleged incident involved being molested by a former soldier after being sent to his home in west Belfast.

He further claimed he had been put on ferries to England, where he was picked up by men and taken to locations in Manchester and London.

As part of the action it was alleged that previous investigations failed to expose the full abuse at Kincora, along with the suspected knowledge and role of British state agents.

His lawyers also claimed failures by the Royal Ulster Constabulary to properly probe events at the home.

Kerr's solicitor, Kevin Winters, praised his courage in taking the case over "profound and lasting harm" suffered during childhood.

Since then he has lived with the consequences of serious oversight, safeguarding and investigative shortcomings identified by the HIA Inquiry, the solicitor said.

Winters added: "Despite decades of public discussion concerning Kincora and related institutions, Richard has never before received a personal apology acknowledging the abuse he suffered and its devastating impact upon him.

"Today's settlement cannot undo the past, but it brings a measure of closure and recognition that has been long overdue."