Client’s story: Helping a survivor of historic childhood abuse seek recognition after safeguarding failures

The long-term impact of the abuse

The abuse had a serious and lasting effect on our client.

After returning to the UK, she experienced severe mental health crises, including self-harm and suicide attempts, and needed repeated hospital treatment.

The impact continued into her adult life. She experienced Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as Complex PTSD, together with depression and anxiety. Her education had been disrupted, and she also experienced difficulties with relationships and her emotional and social wellbeing.

Complex PTSD can develop after someone experiences repeated or prolonged trauma, particularly where they feel unable to escape what is happening. It can cause symptoms associated with PTSD, such as distressing memories and feeling constantly on alert, but it can also affect relationships, emotions and the way someone sees themselves.

When bringing a civil claim for childhood abuse, it is important to look at much more than the abuse itself. The long-term psychological, emotional and practical effects also need to be understood because they can form an important part of the harm for which compensation is being sought.

Why the Local Authority was included in the claim

Our client’s civil claim was brought against the Local Authority rather than against the individual family members who had abused her.

This was because the case concerned the duty of care the Local Authority had towards her while she was a child in its care.

A Local Authority has legal responsibilities towards children who are subject to a Care Order and in their care. In a civil claim, the court will likely consider what the Local Authority knew about the risk of harm or what they ought to have known, and what steps they took, if any, to protect the child from the risk.

Our client was still subject to a Care Order when she was taken overseas. One of the key legal issues was whether the Local Authority could have prevented this from happening.

The Local Authority denied that it was legally responsible for her removal and the harm caused to her afterwards.

This meant the case was not simply about proving that our client had suffered serious abuse. We also had to prove that the Local Authority were negligent and failed to protect our client from harm.

Our team carefully reviewed the available social care records and obtained independent expert evidence from a social care expert to support the claim.

Dealing with the length of time that had passed

Another major challenge in our client’s case was the amount of time that had passed since the abuse took place.

The events at the centre of the claim had happened more than 20 years earlier. At the time our client brought her claim, child sexual abuse claims were still subject to the legal time limits that applied to personal injury claims.

For someone who experienced abuse as a child, the usual time limit generally ran until their 21st birthday. If a claim was brought after that point, the court could still allow it to continue, but the person bringing the claim had to ask the court to allow the claim to proceed despite the usual deadline having passed.

When deciding this, the court could consider the circumstances of the case, including the reasons for the delay, the effect the passage of time had on the available evidence and whether a fair trial could still be held.

In our client’s case, the length of time that had passed was a major issue and had to be addressed carefully as the claim progressed.

The law has since changed for survivors bringing civil claims for child sexual abuse in England and Wales. Since June 2026, there is no longer a strict limitation period for these claims and a survivor no longer needs to explain the reasons for the delay, however the Defendant can still argue that a fair trial is not possible.

For other forms of childhood abuse, including physical or emotional abuse, different time limits can still apply. Anyone concerned that too much time has passed should therefore seek specialist legal advice rather than assuming they are unable to bring a claim.

Gathering evidence many years later

The historic nature of the case also made gathering evidence more difficult.

There were delays in obtaining the complete records from the Local Authority.

Social care records are extremely important in this type of claim. They can show what concerns were raised at the time, what information professionals had, what decisions were made and what action was taken to protect a child.

Our team carefully reviewed the records that were available and continued to press for the documents needed to investigate the case properly.

This process is known as disclosure. In a civil claim, disclosure involves both sides providing relevant documents that may help the court understand the issues in dispute.

Where events happened many years ago, these documents can become particularly important because memories may have faded and some other forms of evidence may no longer be available.

By building the case around the available records and the expert evidence obtained, we were able to continue progressing the claim despite the Local Authority’s denial of liability.

Supporting our client throughout the case

Bringing a claim for childhood sexual abuse can be extremely difficult for the survivor.  Therefore, it is important that we took into our consideration our client’s needs as we progressed their claim. Our team gave clear explanations about each stage of the claim and kept her regularly updated so she understood what was happening and why certain decisions needed to be made. We also tried to reduce unnecessary distress wherever possible.

The claim lasted for several years, so maintaining trust and communication was particularly important. Throughout the process, our client was given the information and support she needed to make informed decisions about her case.

The outcome

The case was eventually listed for trial.

A trial would have required a judge to consider the evidence and legal arguments before deciding whether the Local Authority was legally responsible and, if so, what compensation should be awarded.

Before the trial took place, we entered into negotiations with the defendant and secured a settlement of £90,000 for our client. Reaching an agreement meant she did not have to go through the additional pressure and uncertainty of a trial. This was particularly important given the traumatic nature of the events at the centre of the claim and the effect that revisiting them had on her wellbeing.

The settlement also provided financial reassurance after a legal process that had lasted for many years.

How we may be able to help

If you experienced abuse or neglect during childhood, including where you believe a Local Authority or another organisation may have failed to protect you, our specialist abuse claims team may be able to help.

We understand that talking about childhood abuse can be extremely difficult, especially when the events happened many years ago. Our team will listen to what happened, explain your legal options in clear and straightforward language and adapt the way we work to your individual needs.

Every case is different, and historic childhood abuse claims can involve complex legal and evidential issues. Getting specialist advice can help you understand whether you may still be able to bring a claim, what evidence may be needed and what your options are.

Call us today on 0800 260 5010, or request a callback to discuss your circumstances and find out what options may be available to you.