A man who suffered sexual abuse as a child at Kincora Boys Home in east Belfast is to receive £100,000 in damages, the High Court heard on Tuesday.

The settlement concludes a civil action brought by Richard Kerr, now 64 and living in the United States, who alleged he was trafficked and abused over several years in the 1960s and 1970s. His lawsuit named the Department of Health, the Department of Justice, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Secretary of State for the Home Department. The defendants denied liability but agreed to pay the sum plus legal costs.

Kerr spent more than two years at the now demolished Kincora home and was also in care at Williamson House in north Belfast and a borstal in County Down. Court papers detailed claims that he was given alcohol and assaulted by multiple men at locations across Northern Ireland, including hotels in Belfast, Portrush and Bangor, and at horse stables near Larne. The allegations also involved a former soldier and incidents in England after being transported by ferry.

The case included accusations that state agencies failed to properly investigate the abuse at Kincora and that the Royal Ulster Constabulary did not conduct adequate inquiries. These claims echoed findings of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, which had previously concluded Kerr was sexually exploited and suffered serious long-term harm.

In an agreed statement read in court, the PSNI and the two Stormont departments expressed deep regret that Kerr was subjected to any abuse, acknowledging the inquiry’s conclusions about the impact on his life.

Kerr’s solicitor, Kevin Winters, said his client had shown courage in pursuing the case. He noted that despite decades of public discussion about Kincora, Kerr had never before received a personal apology recognising the abuse and its effects. Winters added that while the settlement could not undo the past, it offered a measure of closure that had been long overdue.