Compensation
TVZ and others v Manchester City Football Club Ltd [2022] EWHC 7 (QB), [2022] All ER (D) 12 (Jan)
The Queen’s Bench Division dismissed the claimants’ claims, who sought compensation for sexual abuse perpetrated by A in the early 1980s when they were aged between 10 and 14 and playing for football teams coached by A. They claimed that A was working for the defendant and that it was liable for his conduct. The court held, among other things, that: (i) each claim had been brought more than 25 years after the expiry of the time limit. Each claimant had a good explanation for the delay, but it had meant that the evidence was less cogent than if the claims had been brought in time. That was, in part, because the key witness on a key issue had died in 2010. It was not fair, after all those years, to reach a binding determination on the defendant’s responsibility for the abuse based on the partial evidence that was still available. Therefore, each claim was dismissed on the ground that it was
