A former pupil of Methodist College Belfast was left “traumatised” after “degrading” videos were recorded of him on a school rugby trip.
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Gabriel McConkey, now 19, has been awarded more than £50,000 in a civil case after the school admitted liability in relation to negligence and failure to supervise.
He was in lower sixth and on a trip to Portugal when it is alleged that older pupils forced him and others to run naked around the resort they were staying in.
Well done to Gabriel McConkey for taking this action, Belfast Methodist College doesn’t sound like much of a ‘top school’ > Former NI schoolboy awarded £52k over 'hazing' on trip https://t.co/15OCPLaFDn via @rte
— Andrew Madden (@andrewmmadden) January 22, 2025
Mr McConkey’s family and solicitor declared the outcome a vindication in taking the case.
His mother, Sian Mawhinney, said: “The child that we sent on a school trip is not the child that returned home to us, either physically or mentally.
“He looked absolutely broken by what happened and what he witnessed.”