Catholic diocese allowed to appeal over abuse ruling
A Catholic diocese held liable for abuse at a former boys' school has been allowed to appeal against the ruling.
The abuse is said to have taken place between 1960 and 1992 at St William's in Market Weighton, East Yorkshire.
The Court of Appeal ruled last year that the Middlesbrough Diocese was responsible for an £8m compensation claim from 158 ex-pupils.
The Supreme Court has now allowed the diocese to appeal in order to blame another Catholic diocese.
Last October the appeal court upheld a ruling which said the De La Salle Brotherhood, which provided the school with teachers at the time, had no legal responsibility and it was down to the Middlesbrough Diocese.
Solicitor David Greenwood, who is acting on behalf of the former pupils, said: "The Catholic Church has for years tried to escape liability for its priests and members and I hope this case will decide the issues once and for all."
The case centres around the systematic abuse of boys aged between 10 and 16 at the school, which closed in 1992.
The home provided residential care and education for boys with emotional and behavioural problems, mainly from Yorkshire and the North East.
Humberside Police started an investigation in 2001, which focused on child abuse at the home between 1965 and 1992.
A former principal at the home, James Carragher, was jailed for 14 years in 2004 after being found guilty of abusing boys there between 1969 and 1989.