Celtic Boys Club victim agreed to settle legal claim over fears he would end up dead or bankrupt

Scottish Sun

2 days ago

He could have been hit with a massive legal bill
FIGHT FOR JUSTICE Celtic Boys Club victim agreed to settle legal claim over fears he would end up dead or bankrupt
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A CELTIC Boys Club abuse victim revealed he agreed to settle his legal claim over fears he would die before receiving compensation or suffer financial ruin.
Gordon Woods, 71, told how he could have faced paying a massive legal bill for Parkhead bosses had he pushed on with his long fight for justice.
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Celtic Boys Club abuse survivor Gordon Woods
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A number of boys were abused at Celtic Boys Club by a gang of predators
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Beast Jim Torbett abused Gordon when he was just 13 years old
We told last month how the Hoops agreed to pay millions of pounds to end a class action brought by dozens of traumatised ex-footie starlets. But Mr Woods was not included.
He was just 13 when he was abused by beast Jim Torbett, 77, who founded the boys club in 1966.
Now the dad, who suffers from a lung condition, has explained why he finally agreed to settle his case.
Mr Woods said: 'They made me three offers. I accepted the third one.
"Rules for civil cases mean that if I'd refused and gone to court and won — but the court awarded me even 1p less compensation than what Celtic had offered me — I'd then be responsible for their legal costs from the date I had refused the offer.
'Would you take that chance? Are you going to roll that dice that could bankrupt you and your family?
'Or are you going to take this offer on the table and walk away?'
Mr Woods, who has a teenage daughter, also feared he might not live to see his case end.
He added: 'I worried that if I died before it concluded, then it would all be for nothing.'
Previously, he had hoped that hearings in the Court of Session in Edinburgh would reveal who knew what and when.
But last year he discovered a class action would only focus on whether Celtic FC was 'vicariously liable'.
Last night Mr Woods blasted the Parkhead outfit for failing to admit a direct link with the boys club — and called for a public inquiry.
He said: 'They said they feel sorry for the children abused at Celtic Boys Club. But they still separated it from Celtic Football Club.
'What they should have said was, 'These children were abused while they played under our banner, representing the name of Celtic.' But they didn't.
'So they have not made any official acknowledgement they were responsible. It's disgusting.
'My campaign will switch from the class action to a public inquiry. It's really necessary because, without that, nobody will ever know the truth.'
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Gordon is also demanding a public inquiry into abuse across football in Scotland.
He added: 'My campaign is now going to switch from the class action to a public inquiry. It's necessary, because without that public inquiry, nobody's going to know the truth.'
Last month Thompsons Solicitors confirmed around 70 per cent of cases had been settled for a seven-figure sum.
They said: 'Justice has finally been achieved.'
Celtic said: 'The club is very sorry that these events took place at Celtic Boys' Club.'
They added that they took 'this abuse extremely seriously because of the historic contacts between the two organisations'.
But Mr Woods hit back: 'Celtic paid that money to silence victims, silence the media, and anybody else who might have questions.'
Concerns over Torbett's conduct were flagged repeatedly for almost three decades but it wasn't until 1998 that he was finally convicted of sickening abuse of young footie starlets.
The monster was jailed for three years in May 2023 for preying on Mr Woods in 1967.
He also got six years in 2018 for molesting three kids.
Disgraced ex-coach Frank Cairney, 90, was caged for three years in 2019 for sex attacks on young players.
Celtic were contacted for comment.