A man who was subjected to a “punishment regime” at a Co Tipperary home for those with special needs has settled a High Court action for €400,000.
Camphill Communities of Ireland apologised in the High Court to Derek Slater (51) and expressed regret for failing to protect and support him when he attended the community home at Grangemockler, Co Tipperary, 20 years ago.
David Kennedy SC, for Mr Slater, told the court his client was subjected to “what would be now called abuse” and it had a devastating effect on the man, then aged 31 and who is on the autism spectrum and is moderately disabled.
Mr Kennedy said Mr Slater, from Carrick on Suir, Co Tipperary, had been a resident of the Camphill Community at Grangemockler since 1995, but his family noticed between 2004 and 2006 that he regressed and did not want to return there after weekends at home.
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He said it was of great concern to the Slater family and it appeared from a later HSE case review that a young member of the staff at the time had devised a behaviour plan for Mr Slater, which Mr Kennedy said involved a “punishment regime where Mr Slater was subjected to a shower which was run cold then hot then cold again”.
Mr Kennedy said if Mr Slater reacted he was locked in a room and he was also “subjected to a type of hard labour where he had to push a wheelbarrow with a flat tyre”.
Mr Kennedy told the judge: “It beggars belief it can happen in the recent past.”
Mr Slater had, through his mother Eileen Slater, sued Camphill Communities of Ireland, with registered offices at Brannockstown, Co Kildare, over his treatment at the community home between 2004 and 2006.
Mr Kennedy told the court liability was admitted in the case, but causation remained at issue. He said the family welcomed and acknowledged the apology given in a letter read to the court.
In the letter, the current chief executive of Camphill Communities of Ireland, Louise Gorman, on behalf of the executive team and board of directors, extended “our most heartfelt apology for the distress and suffering you experienced while in our care. We are truly sorry that we did not provide the safe and nurturing environment that you deserved”.
The letter also said: “Your experiences are deeply concerning to us and we regret that we failed to protect and support you. We understand that this has had a lasting impact on your life and we acknowledge the pain and hardship you and your family have endured.
“We are fully committed to learning from the past and ensuring that such failures never happen again. Over the years we have taken significant steps to improve our safeguarding policies, staff training and oversight processes to provide the highest standard of care and support for those we serve.
“Please know we are committed to ensuring that all individuals within our care are treated with the kindness, dignity and the respect they deserve.”
Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said it was fair and reasonable. He said it had been a long road and had ended in the vindication of Mr Slater with the apology read in court.
