Courts

Mountbatten accuser launches legal action against Northern Ireland state institutions

Lawyers representing Arthur Smyth lodged a writ of summons at the High Court as part of a case in which he alleges molestation

Prince Charles with his great-uncle and mentor Lord Mountbatten in 1979. Photograph: Tim Graham/Getty Images

Alan Erwin
Wed Oct 19 2022 - 17:14

A man who claims Lord Mountbatten abused him at a Belfast children’s home has formally launched legal action against state institutions in Northern Ireland.

Lawyers representing Arthur Smyth lodged a writ of summons at the High Court in Belfast on Wednesday as part of a case in which he alleges that the late earl molested him twice during the 1970s.

Mr Smyth, a former resident at the Kincora home for boys, is suing the Department of Health, the Secretary of State, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Business Services Organisation.

He is seeking damages for alleged assault and battery, negligence, misfeasance in public office and breach of statutory duty under the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 1968.

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Solicitor Kevin Winters said: “In issuing this action today, Arthur Smyth has now put down a marker and taken the next important step in his battle to get justice over the horrific abuse suffered by him when he was a child.

“In doing this he wants to expose what, until now, have been suspicions and rumours about one of his alleged abusers, the late Lord Louis Mountbatten.

“He wants the facts finally to emerge about his abuse generally and specific allegations about two separate incidents implicating the now deceased royal.”

Lord Mountbatten, a great uncle and mentor to King Charles III, was killed along with three others when the IRA blew up his fishing boat off the coast of Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, in August 1979.

The allegations against him in relation abusing Mr Smyth, who has waived anonymity, will be set out in a finalised statement of claim due to be served at a later date.

Wider proceedings brought by the plaintiff relate to periods he spent as a child at three different facilities in Belfast, including Kincora in the east of the city.

The home, which closed in 1980, was at the centre of a sexual abuse scandal.

Three members of staff were later jailed for attacks on 11 boys, and in 2017 an inquiry found that 39 residents were abused at some point during their time at Kincora.

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