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Court hears former school principal abused seven pupils almost fifty years ago

Jul 9, 2020 18:27 By Shannonside News
Court hears former school principal abused seven pupils almost fifty years ago
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A sentence hearing at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard how a former school principal abused seven of his pupils between September 1968 and September

A sentence hearing at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard how a former school principal abused seven of his pupils between September 1968 and September 1970.

Patrick Harte, of Glendown Park, Templeogue, Dublin will be sentenced tomorrow afternoon.

Six of Patrick Harte’s seven victims were in court today. They were 8 or 9 years old when he abused them.

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The 78-year-old was found guilty of indecently assaulting them at Sancta Maria Christian Brothers primary school on Synge Street in Dublin.

They described an atmosphere of fear in his classroom. They said he was very aggressive and used to regularly beat them with a strip of leather.

They were all molested by him at his desk at the top of the class. He used to tell the others to put their heads down so they wouldn’t see what he was doing.

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Three of them: Tony Conlan, Kevin Byrne and Dermot Hallion, waived their rights to anonymity.

They all described how afraid they were of him, and they spoke about the devastating impact his actions have had on their lives.
Harte, who doesn’t accept the jury’s verdicts, addressed the court, but didn’t apologise for his actions or show any remorse in a lengthy speech.

He’ll be sentenced tomorrow afternoon.

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