Beatty v Beatty

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Court: High Court
• Judge: Ms. Justice Siobhán Phelan
• Judgment Date: 09 February 2024
• Neutral Citation: [2024] IEHC 71
• Docket Number: [Record No.: 2022/4986P]

Between:

Stephen Beatty

Plaintiff

and

Walter Beatty (Represented by His Guardian Ad Litem Walter Beatty Junior)

Defendant

[2024] IEHC 71

[Record No.: 2022/4986P]

THE HIGH COURT

JUDGMENT OF Ms. Justice Siobhán Phelan, delivered on the 9th day of February, 2024.

INTRODUCTION

1 . These proceedings concern an alleged incident of sexual abuse occurring in or about May, 1981 when the Plaintiff was a teenager (then aged 15 and ¹/₂ years old) home from boarding school on a short visit. The Defendant, who is now over ninety years of age, is the Plaintiff's father.

2 . The abuse of the Plaintiff by his father is alleged to have occurred in the bedroom the Plaintiff shared with his now deceased brother in their childhood family home. A criminal prosecution was initiated following investigation of a complaint made by the Plaintiff to An Garda Siochána in 2017. This prosecution was discontinued by the entry of a nolle prosequi in or about June, 2020 in circumstances where a stroke occurring in December, 2019 rendered the Defendant permanently incapacitated and unfit to give evidence in his defence.

3 . The Plaintiff did not issue these proceedings until September, 2022. As at the date of issue of these proceedings, the Plaintiff's mother and brother, both identified as witnesses of fact in his complaint and interviewed as part of the Garda investigation, were each recently deceased and the Defendant was in declining health and cognitively impaired.

4 . The matter comes before me on an application to dismiss the proceedings on grounds of delay. I have decided to dismiss these proceedings because in my view core facts cannot be fairly and properly determined by reason of the unavailability of crucial evidence due to the lapse of time.

5 . The factual background to these proceeding as set out in the pleadings and the evidential issues apparent from both the pleadings and discovered material shall now be set out in summary form before proceeding to identify the applicable legal principles and expand upon my reasoning in acceding to this application to dismiss the proceedings.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

6 . The Plaintiff is the fourth eldest of eight children. He has achieved academic and professional success qualifying as a medical doctor and subsequently entering on a specialist register and being appointed as a medical consultant. He is the married father of adult children. For his part the Defendant enjoyed a long and successful professional career as a lawyer working into his eighties and only retiring in old age. He has been residing in a nursing home for several years.

7 . The Plaintiff claims that on the night in question his father, who had been drinking, visited him in the bedroom he was sharing with his brother. It is alleged that his father sat on his bed and initiated a conversation about sex and the Plaintiff's anatomy before proceeding to touch the Plaintiff in a sexually inappropriate, unwelcome and abusive manner, finally falling asleep on the Plaintiff's bed. It is alleged that during this abuse the Defendant told the Plaintiff that he loved him “ more than the others”.

8 . The Plaintiff alleges that his now deceased brother was present in the same bedroom at the time of the alleged abuse, albeit he gave the appearance of being asleep. The Plaintiff believes that he was in fact awake because several months later it is alleged that his brother said to him “ daddy loves you more than the rest of us” and admitted that he heard the Defendant say this on the night the abuse allegedly occurred.

9 . The Plaintiff also alleges a discussion with his mother the following day in which she queried his father's presence in the room the night before. He denies disclosing abuse to her but from the terms of his conversation with her he inferred knowledge or suspicion on her part.

10 . The Plaintiff claims that the Defendant admitted the incident to him and apologised for it both on his next visit home and in or about 1986 around the time of his twenty-first birthday. He also claims that his father may have disclosed the incident to other family members, although this is an issue in respect of which some contest arises. This notwithstanding, one of the Plaintiff's brothers (not the brother with whom he shared a bedroom) made a statement during the Garda investigation in which he stated that the Plaintiff had told him in the early 1980s and while he was still at school about “ some abuse of a sexual nature against him from Dad.” This same brother also stated that the Defendant admitted a version of the events complained of to him in or about Christmas 1983 but denied in that discussion that he had touched the Plaintiff.

11 . Separately, the Plaintiff disclosed an incident of sexual abuse occurring in broadly similar terms to the incident described in these proceedings to a close friend when he was eighteen years of age. This friend made a statement to An Garda Siochána confirming the disclosure at that time. The Plaintiff made further disclosures to other parties at various times in relation to the abuse he alleges (including his wife in the early 2000s, a counsellor in or about that time and a work colleague). He claims he was advised by a counsellor he attended in either 2003 or 2004 not to report the incident.

12 . Of great significance to the Plaintiff, he made detailed disclosure of the alleged abuse to family members in or about 2003 when he wrote a letter to each of his siblings but not his parents. The date of the alleged incident offered in this letter was 1980 rather than 1981. In this letter the Plaintiff claimed that his mother was aware of what had happened, a belief seemingly derived from a conversation with her the morning after the alleged incident. He rhetorically questioned:

“Had she seen through the crack of the door and failed to intervene. But surely, I would have heard the floor boards creak? Had he told (confessed?) to her, and was she now checking that I wouldn't tell”.

13 . The Plaintiff attaches a lot of weight to what he considers to be the refusal of most of his siblings to accept the truth of his account and support him following receipt of his letter in 2003. In his affidavit in response to this application he describes himself as “ estranged from all but one of my siblings since 2003”. He refers to a “ family omerta” and the abuse being an “ open family secret” which he describes as “ oppressive” and claims exacerbated his injuries and caused delay.

14 . Despite disclosure to family members and other third parties, most specifically and particularly by letter in 2003, the Plaintiff did not report the matter to An Garda Siochána until 2017. In his statement to the Gardaí the Plaintiff said that he was:

“coming forward with this now because I don't really feel that my father is contrite about his remorse. Also when I was practising I was a well known surgeon and I would not have wanted my name in the papers or anything but now I am in a place where this would not bother me.”

15 . Following investigation which involved taking statements from the Defendant, the Defendant's wife, several of the Plaintiff's siblings including the brother who shared his bedroom at the material time and the brother to whom he had made disclosure in the early 1980s, several friends and a work colleague, a file was sent to the DPP. Certain features of this material require to be recorded as relevant to this dismissal application.

16 . For his part the Defendant made a statement in which he said:

“I am aware of an allegation made by my son, Stephen. He first made this allegation by way of letter sent to some or all of his siblings in 2003. I never received any letter. I understand that he has now made a complaint to An Garda Siochana. One of the 2003 letters has been opened to me. The allegations Stephen has made in these letters never occurred. I have never behaved inappropriately with Stephen or any of my children.”

17 . He made no further comment during cautioned interview conducted in the presence of his solicitor.

18 . Notably in her statement the Plaintiff's now deceased mother denied the Plaintiff's allegations in full stating:

“I never saw or heard anything that made me suspicious and I could never imagine my husband being capable of anything like the allegation as is set out in Stephen's letter. With regard to the specific allegation about me contained in the letter, I definitely did not see anything through the crack in the door as is suggested/alleged. If I had, I would have immediately entered the room. Furthermore, Stephen and I never had any conversation of the type outlined in that letter.”

19 . Separately, in his statement to An Garda Siochána during the criminal investigation, the Plaintiff's now deceased brother who shared his room at the material time denied the Plaintiff's allegations stating:

“I am certain that my father never interfered with Stephen in my presence in this bedroom or anywhere else. My father did not come in and behave in the way as described by Stephen. I also confirm that I never heard my father say to Stephen that he loved him more than the others….. I have never discussed with Stephen as to who was the most preferred child in the family.”

20 . On affidavit in these proceedings, the Plaintiff maintains that this same brother had travelled to meet him following the 2003 letter and had confirmed that he remembered the night in question but could not support him because he and his family were financially dependent on the Defendant. This further allegation in respect of his brother's knowledge of the event was made by the Plaintiff on affidavit in these proceedings after his brother died. It was not referred to in his statement to Gardaí. For his part, in his statement to Gardaí, his deceased brother clearly stated that the 2003 letter was “ the first I had heard of any such allegation...