100 Seek Damages Over Nuns ‘Abuse’

One hundred victims of alleged abuse by nuns at Catholic children’s homes in Scotland are to seek criminal injuries compensation. The former residents of Nazareth House started giving evidence this week at hearings held by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel in Glasgow.

Earlier this year, some of the victims were awarded state compensation totalling more than £60,000. The awards were made to 18 former residents at orphanages run by the Congregation of the Poor Sisters of Nazareth in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.

The victims, from all over Scotland, claim to have been beaten or humiliated as children during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s by some of the nuns who ran Nazareth House homes.

Cameron Fyfe, the solicitor representing the victims, said 21 former residents would give evidence this week and 100 people would have their cases heard over the next two months.

He said: “It’s traumatic for these people to give evidence because it brings back a lot of bad memories.”