Abuse case against Scottish nuns dismissed

A woman who claimed she was abused in a Scottish children's home in the 1950s, has lost a bid to sue the Poor Sisters of Nazareth who ran it. Elizabeth Abernethy, 55, was seeking compensation over alleged abuse at the home in Glasgow. She was taken to Nazareth House as a baby and left at 11 when she was sent to a convent on Merseyside. Although she left Nazareth House in 1959 she did not raise proceedings against the religious order until 2000. Judge Gordon Coutts at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, ruled the action was time-barred and should be dismissed. About 150 other claims against the Poor Sisters of Nazareth will fall after the decision in Mrs Abernethy's test case. Mr Coutts said that if her claims had been established they would have portrayed "a horrifying picture of inappropriate and uncaring discipline and neglect all of which caused actual physical injury". The Sisters denied all the allegations. Although around 150 cases will fall after this test case decision, a further 350 cases involving others who were in the home more recently, are still being pursued.