Celtic face threat of multimillion pound compensation claim(The Times)
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Hope this quick copy and paste is ok.
Jim McCafferty sentence: Legal action over child abuse is imminent, Celtic warned
Marc Horne
May 16 2019, 12:01am, The Times
Celtic has expressed sympathy for the victims but insisted that the boys club is a separate organisationTIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP
Celtic FC will face a multimillion pound compensation claim “within months” unless it accepts responsibility for the paedophiles who preyed on young players, a senior lawyer has said.
The warning from Patrick McGuire, who has represented some of the victims, comes after Jim McCafferty, 73, a former club kitman and Celtic Boys Club coach, was jailed for six years and nine months after admitting that he had molested boys over 24 years.
Jim McCaffertyPOLICE SCOTLAND
The jail sentence is the third to be handed down to former Celtic Boys Club staff after Jim Torbett, 71, its founder, and Frank Cairney, 83, a coach, were imprisoned for sexually assaulting youngsters.
Gerard Kind, 66, the former chairman of the boys’ club, was convicted of abusing four boys and a girl…
Jim McCafferty sentence: Legal action over child abuse is imminent, Celtic warned
Marc Horne
May 16 2019, 12:01am, The Times
Celtic has expressed sympathy for the victims but insisted that the boys club is a separate organisationTIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP
Celtic FC will face a multimillion pound compensation claim “within months” unless it accepts responsibility for the paedophiles who preyed on young players, a senior lawyer has said.
The warning from Patrick McGuire, who has represented some of the victims, comes after Jim McCafferty, 73, a former club kitman and Celtic Boys Club coach, was jailed for six years and nine months after admitting that he had molested boys over 24 years.
Jim McCaffertyPOLICE SCOTLAND
The jail sentence is the third to be handed down to former Celtic Boys Club staff after Jim Torbett, 71, its founder, and Frank Cairney, 83, a coach, were imprisoned for sexually assaulting youngsters.
Gerard Kind, 66, the former chairman of the boys’ club, was convicted of abusing four boys and a girl…
Here is the full version , the typo Gerard Kind should have read Gerald King , I'm sure.
Marc Horne
May 16 2019, 12:01am, The Times
Jim McCafferty sentence: Legal action over child abuse is imminent, Celtic warned
Celtic FC will face a multimillion pound compensation claim “within months” unless it accepts responsibility for the paedophiles who preyed on young players, a senior lawyer has said.
The warning from Patrick McGuire, who has represented some of the victims, comes after Jim McCafferty, 73, a former club kitman and Celtic Boys Club coach, was jailed for six years and nine months after admitting that he had molested boys over 24 years.
The jail sentence is the third to be handed down to former Celtic Boys Club staff after Jim Torbett, 71, its founder, and Frank Cairney, 83, a coach, were imprisoned for sexually assaulting youngsters.
Gerald King, 66, the former chairman of the boys’ club, was convicted of abusing four boys and a girl while he was employed as a primary school teacher, but was not jailed.
Mr McGuire, a partner with Thompsons Solicitors, said that court action would be launched imminently unless the club changed its stance.
Celtic has expressed sympathy for the victims but has insisted that the boys club is a separate organisation and not its responsibility.
Mr McGuire said: “We have formally intimated a large number of claims on behalf of survivors of all the four named paedophiles that operated under the guise of the wider Celtic umbrella. We continue to gather evidence and have got a lot of financial information. We have got the evidence of survivors, talking about the links.
“The case is being gathered and we absolutely will be going to court, and probably doing so in a matter of months, unless Celtic’s tack changes.”
Mr McGuire argued that Celtic should follow the precedent set by Manchester City, which has launched a compensation scheme for youngsters abused by Barry Bennell, a former youth coach and serial paedophile.
“Celtic’s board and chief executive should stop hiding behind their lawyers and start looking at what Manchester City has done,” he said.
It has been reported that a claim could amount to more than £5 million.
Celtic FC did not respond to a request for comment.
Marc Horne
May 16 2019, 12:01am, The Times
Jim McCafferty sentence: Legal action over child abuse is imminent, Celtic warned
Celtic FC will face a multimillion pound compensation claim “within months” unless it accepts responsibility for the paedophiles who preyed on young players, a senior lawyer has said.
The warning from Patrick McGuire, who has represented some of the victims, comes after Jim McCafferty, 73, a former club kitman and Celtic Boys Club coach, was jailed for six years and nine months after admitting that he had molested boys over 24 years.
The jail sentence is the third to be handed down to former Celtic Boys Club staff after Jim Torbett, 71, its founder, and Frank Cairney, 83, a coach, were imprisoned for sexually assaulting youngsters.
Gerald King, 66, the former chairman of the boys’ club, was convicted of abusing four boys and a girl while he was employed as a primary school teacher, but was not jailed.
Mr McGuire, a partner with Thompsons Solicitors, said that court action would be launched imminently unless the club changed its stance.
Celtic has expressed sympathy for the victims but has insisted that the boys club is a separate organisation and not its responsibility.
Mr McGuire said: “We have formally intimated a large number of claims on behalf of survivors of all the four named paedophiles that operated under the guise of the wider Celtic umbrella. We continue to gather evidence and have got a lot of financial information. We have got the evidence of survivors, talking about the links.
“The case is being gathered and we absolutely will be going to court, and probably doing so in a matter of months, unless Celtic’s tack changes.”
Mr McGuire argued that Celtic should follow the precedent set by Manchester City, which has launched a compensation scheme for youngsters abused by Barry Bennell, a former youth coach and serial paedophile.
“Celtic’s board and chief executive should stop hiding behind their lawyers and start looking at what Manchester City has done,” he said.
It has been reported that a claim could amount to more than £5 million.
Celtic FC did not respond to a request for comment.
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Remember, some of these victims and their families are on record as saying they were strongly warned by Celtic not to take matters further at the time because it would tarnish the reputation of the club (CFC, not the boys club...)
I'd say its check mate against Celtic now, they either admit accountability or it goes to court and all their dirty secrets get aired.
Either way, I think this will cost them millions in compensation and to the damage to their "reputation"... Also, no chance Lawell is surviving this.
I'd say its check mate against Celtic now, they either admit accountability or it goes to court and all their dirty secrets get aired.
Either way, I think this will cost them millions in compensation and to the damage to their "reputation"... Also, no chance Lawell is surviving this.
That won't happen in this country as you cannot charge the people carrying out these crimes with punitive damages. It's only compensation figures for those violated. The highest in this country has been around £500k and that was settled out of court. For those awarded by the court, it's more like £75k.
Here is an interesting read on the true legal ramifications of this in Scotland. (Top comment)
Here is an interesting read on the true legal ramifications of this in Scotland. (Top comment)
CFC will be bricking it and doing loop-the-loops with their legal teams on this one.
"We'll sue for multimillions UNLESS you admit responsibility" has to be a nightmare position for them.
Admit responsibility and create an open goal for payout claims or continue to deflect and deny and be taken to court for the claims anyway.
What this tone from the lawyer does suggest is that the victims aren't chasing the money - they're saying they'll stop pursuing if the club admits its part.
"We'll sue for multimillions UNLESS you admit responsibility" has to be a nightmare position for them.
Admit responsibility and create an open goal for payout claims or continue to deflect and deny and be taken to court for the claims anyway.
What this tone from the lawyer does suggest is that the victims aren't chasing the money - they're saying they'll stop pursuing if the club admits its part.
Even Celtic must know this separate entity wheeze is doomed to failure.
The fact Stein had the authority to boot Torbett out of the Boys Club rips that up for starters.
That they then re-employed Torbett in full knowledge of his previous abuse is a smoking gun of gigantic proportions.
But, Beasts being Beasts, they always live in hope of cheating their way to victory.
I think their luck is just about to run out.
The fact Stein had the authority to boot Torbett out of the Boys Club rips that up for starters.
That they then re-employed Torbett in full knowledge of his previous abuse is a smoking gun of gigantic proportions.
But, Beasts being Beasts, they always live in hope of cheating their way to victory.
I think their luck is just about to run out.
Their case is as strong as this: were Celtic Football Club aware of the child abuse at Celtic Boys Club?
The answer to that is a resounding yes because we know Torbett was removed from his position as the head of the Boys Club by people within the Football Club.
Torbett was then later re-employed by people within the football club to resume his role at the Boys Club in full knowledge of that earlier abuse whereupon, wouldn’t you just know it, he resumed abusing kids again too.
It’s going to take a highly skilled lawyer of considerable moral turpitude to help them wriggle out of this and cheat the victims out of their rightful justice, but then this is 21st century Scotland so I guess that is a distinct possibility.
The answer to that is a resounding yes because we know Torbett was removed from his position as the head of the Boys Club by people within the Football Club.
Torbett was then later re-employed by people within the football club to resume his role at the Boys Club in full knowledge of that earlier abuse whereupon, wouldn’t you just know it, he resumed abusing kids again too.
It’s going to take a highly skilled lawyer of considerable moral turpitude to help them wriggle out of this and cheat the victims out of their rightful justice, but then this is 21st century Scotland so I guess that is a distinct possibility.
Simple question.
If the boys club is a separate organisation and their club isn’t culpable, then why have their club gone to such lengths to cover this up for 3 decades?
Acts committed under previous leadership yes, but the cover up continued under the present regime. They should be taken to the cleaners, and quite honestly, put out of business both for allowing it to happen, for covering it up and for the complete lack of remorse shown towards the victims.
If the boys club is a separate organisation and their club isn’t culpable, then why have their club gone to such lengths to cover this up for 3 decades?
Acts committed under previous leadership yes, but the cover up continued under the present regime. They should be taken to the cleaners, and quite honestly, put out of business both for allowing it to happen, for covering it up and for the complete lack of remorse shown towards the victims.
