School abuse compensation settlement
We have recovered a six figure compensation award for a client who suffered sexual abuse while attending a North Somerset primary school.
Our client was abused by notorious predatory paedophile teacher Nigel Leat, who has now been jailed indefinitely. After his arrest it emerged that he had been abusing young girls in his class for more than four years and over 30,000 indecent images of children were found in his possession. Leat’s crimes have attracted a great deal of media attention and prompted a serious case review to be set up. The report concluded that there had been a ‘lamentable failure’ on the part of the school’s management.
Our specialist abuse team understand how important it is in these sensitive cases to allow time for the full extent of the impact of the abuse to become clear. We monitored our client as she proceeded through her developmental milestones, assessing her mental health with the assistance of an experienced Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. We also received input from an Educational Psychologist on the effect the abuse in a school environment had negatively impacted her education. Inevitably her educational progress was disrupted, so to help her achieve her full potential in her GCSEs we obtained funding for private tuition.
We arranged for for her to receive private counselling for two years. Sessions were also arranged for her parents so they could provide her with the support she needed at home.
Following negotiations with the council an out of court settlement was reached. The compensation package included funding for future therapy and an award for the disadvantage she would be likely to face when finding work.
For expert guidance on school abuse compensation claims contact our award winning lawyers in confidence by calling our free legal helpline on 0333 888 0404 or emailing [email protected]
