NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Strapped pupil awarded $3.6m

16 Feb, 2001 01:46 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

By GREG ANSLEY Canberra bureau chief

A massive $A2.96 million ($3.65 million) payout to a former Catholic schoolboy for two strappings administered 17 years ago has set Australia's lawyers scrambling to determine its value as a precedent for other claims.

With generations of Australians whacked as a matter of course until the
relatively recent backlash against corporal punishment, 30-year-old Dr Paul Hogan's revenge on the Catholic Church and his former discipline master could unleash a new river of litigation.

Opinion yesterday was cautious and divided, as the Catholic Church has signalled a likely appeal and the specific issues raised in Hogan's claim may limit its use in future actions.

As it was, the jury found only that the most severe use of the strap by former St Johns College master Denis Fricot had been neither moderate nor reasonable - not that the beating itself was improper.

In fact, the jury found that Fricot was quite within bounds in giving Hogan five of the best for referring to him as a black bastard.

But a support group established to help the victims of sexual abuse by priests regards the multimillion-dollar award against Fricot and the Church as a breakthrough in their battle for compensation.

Victims should take heart from this, Broken Rites president Chris Macisaac said.

"You have to look at it from the point of view of the damage done, whether it is sexual or a rap over the knuckles."

For the Church, the award was a shattering blow.

Catholic Education Office acting executive director Natalie McNamara said the verdict was so manifestly excessive as to warrant consideration being given to an appeal.

Church barrister Ian Harrison was left all but speechless.

"I don't know how to respond to that figure, Your Honour," he told Justice James Wood in the New South Wales Supreme Court after the jury delivered its verdict.

The mega-dollar strappings took place on March 16, 1984, after Fricot had caught Hogan in breach of the strict uniform code of St Johns, in the western Sydney suburb of Lakemba.

Hogan received three straps across his right hand, which he claimed was bruised and swollen as a result. Later in the day another teacher overheard Hogan call Fricot a black bastard in the playground - an allegation denied by Hogan - and the pupil was given another strapping.

In court, Hogan - who now has a PhD in civil engineering and works part-time for the federal science organisation CSIRO - claimed that the wrongful strappings had permanently injured his hand.

He said it caused a chronic pain disorder and led to psychological and emotional problems.

Hogan also said the injuries had ruined his planned career as a construction project engineer.

The defence claimed the beatings were reasonable and moderate and challenged the injuries alleged by Hogan, pointing out that bone scans in 1984 had failed to reveal such damage, that subsequent doctors' visits had never referred to the injuries, and that claims of chronic pain disorder had never been supported by x-rays or other tests.

The jury found that Fricot did not have cause to strap Hogan on the first occasion.

And while the second bearing was justifiable, it was excessive and both Fricot and the Church were in breach of their duty of care.

It awarded Hogan $A700,000 in general damages, $A10,000 in aggravated damages, $A212,728 for past economic loss, $A1.58 million in future lost earnings, and $A22,000 for future medical treatment plus interest and superannuation losses.

But Hogan will have to wait for most of his payout after a stay on the award was granted yesterday.

Justice Wood granted an application for the stay by lawyers for the Church and Fricot.

The stay was granted on the condition that Hogan was paid $A500,000 and an appeal was lodged within 21 days.

Australian Plaintiff Lawyers Association president Dr Peter Cashman said he thought the damages award was likely to be overturned on appeal.

"The general damages component is in excess of the normal benchmark."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Special operation recovers bodies of two American-Israeli hostages from Gaza

05 Jun 08:26 AM
World

Erin Patterson trial: Mushroom cook denies photo shows death caps in dehydrator

05 Jun 07:57 AM
World

Trump orders inquiry into 'conspiracy' to hide Biden's health decline

05 Jun 04:17 AM

Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Special operation recovers bodies of two American-Israeli hostages from Gaza

Special operation recovers bodies of two American-Israeli hostages from Gaza

05 Jun 08:26 AM

The couple's bodies were recovered from the Khan Yunis area of the southern Gaza Strip.

Erin Patterson trial: Mushroom cook denies photo shows death caps in dehydrator

Erin Patterson trial: Mushroom cook denies photo shows death caps in dehydrator

05 Jun 07:57 AM
Trump orders inquiry into 'conspiracy' to hide Biden's health decline

Trump orders inquiry into 'conspiracy' to hide Biden's health decline

05 Jun 04:17 AM
Trump bans visas for new foreign students at Harvard

Trump bans visas for new foreign students at Harvard

05 Jun 03:56 AM
Clean water fuelling Pacific futures
sponsored

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP