- Adam Kneale is targeted by Western Bulldogs volunteer Graeme Hobbs
- Kneale was first abused in 1984 and the offending continued until 1990
The largest payout to an abuse survivor in Australia, a $5.9 million reward to the Western Bulldogs, has been cut by more than half on appeal.
But lawyers for Adam Kneale, who was abused by volunteer Graeme Hobbs, have hailed the revised $2.6 million payout as a victory as the Court of Appeal dismissed the rest of the AFL club’s claims.
“My client is delighted that the Court of Appeal has upheld the victory,” Michael Magazanik of Rightside Legal said outside the courtroom on Thursday.
“What this verdict underlines is that the Western Bulldogs allowed a pedophile to walk free, groom children, abuse children and destroy lives, and now the Bulldogs are going to pay a heavy price for that failure.”
Kneale, 51, launched legal action against the Bulldogs after he was abused by Hobbs, who has since died, between 1984 and 1990.
Hobbs first sexually abused Kneale when he was 11 or 12 in an administration building at the club’s home ground in 1984.
After a four-week trial in the Supreme Court, a six-member jury found the Bulldogs negligent and awarded $5,943,151 in damages, including $3,250,000 for Mr. Kneale’s pain and suffering.
The Bulldogs appealed the jury’s finding and asked for it to be set aside, and also appealed the amount awarded.
Sex abuse survivor Adam Kneale (pictured) has seen his $5.9 million payout cut by more than half, but he was still delighted
Lawyers for Kneale (pictured as a boy) outlined how their client was abused by Bulldogs volunteer Graeme Hobbs between 1984 and 1990
Mr Kneale would meet Hobbs at the top of a stairwell at the Bulldogs’ former home ground (pictured) and Hobbs would hand over cash and instruct him to return after half-time.
WesternBulldogs CEO Ameet Bains previously denied the club was aware of the breach
Their lawyers argued that “red flags” reported to the club’s leadership about Hobbs, including that he was a “sleazy character” in a trench coat, were not enough evidence to prove he would commit child sexual abuse.
But the Court of Appeal dismissed all of the Bulldog’s appeal claims, except one on Thursday.
They overturned their appeal against the jury’s pain and suffering award and reduced Mr Kneale’s payout to $2,637,573.
Bulldogs lawyer Geraldine Gray asked jurors to give the club 28 days to pay out the amount.
The court also ordered the Melbourne club to pay 70 percent of the appeal costs.
Mr Magazanik said Mr Kneale expected some reduction as the $5.9 million jury award was higher than what his lawyers had asked for at trial.
He said the Bulldogs had ‘fought tooth and nail not to have to pay Adam Kneale a cent’.
“The overall damages award now stands at $850,000, which remains the largest amount awarded to a survivor of sexual abuse in Australian legal history,” he said.
‘Adam has made legal history, having the Victorian Court of Appeal – the highest court in the state – award him a record amount for pain and damages suffered.
‘This underlines the impact that sexual abuse has on survivors, and is an acknowledgment by the court of the serious injustice suffered by Adam as a child with the Western Bulldogs.’