Northern Ireland

Daniel Curran: Former priest pleads guilty to child abuse charge

Daniel John Curran pleaded guilty to the charge of indecent assault
Daniel John Curran pleaded guilty to the charge of indecent assault Daniel John Curran pleaded guilty to the charge of indecent assault

A FORMER priest has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a boy more than 20 years ago.

Daniel John Curran's appearance at Downpatrick Crown Court today was the sixth time he has faced sex abuse charges.

Standing in the dock, the 68-year-old from Bryansford Avenue in Newcastle, Co Down, confirmed his personal details while defence counsel Noel Dillon said he had been “fully advised about the issue of credit” for pleading guilty at an early stage.

After the court clerk put the charge to him of indecent assault on a date unknown in January 1991, Curran said he was “guilty”.

In applying for bail pending sentence, Mr Dillon said Curran’s previous convictions had resulted in jail sentences totalling 16 years “either immediate or suspended".

He reminded Judge Piers Grant that he last dealt with him in March 2015 when he handed him a suspended jail sentence.

Ordering a pre-sentence report and listing the hearing for September 6, Judge Grant said it was “with some hesitation” that he would free Curran but warned that his decision “should not be interpreted as any indication that a non-custodial sentence will be imposed”.

Daniel Curran pictured in 2012. Picture by Mal McCann
Daniel Curran pictured in 2012. Picture by Mal McCann Daniel Curran pictured in 2012. Picture by Mal McCann

Leaving court a few minutes later, Curran kept his head down as he was verbally abused by a man outside the court.

Curran's first conviction was in 1995 when he was jailed for seven years.

In 2005, he received an 18-month sentence suspended for three years.

The following year he was handed a 14-month sentence, while in 2012 he received a four-year sentence which was later reduced to three years by the Court of Appeal.

That court heard that in a 16-year campaign of abuse from 1977 to 1993, Curran had abused more than a dozen boys, many of them altar boys from his then Falls Road parish in west Belfast, who were taken to a family-owned cottage in Tyrella, Co Down.

In the 2015 case, Curran pleaded guilty to one count of gross indecency towards a male child and a further charge of indecent assault in offences which took place at the cottage between 1990 and 1993.

The court heard that the victim was aged between seven and 10 when Curran plied him with alcohol before getting into bed with him.