‘No mercy’ shown by former Belfast Christian Brother to abuse victims, judge tells court

No remorse and “no mercy” were shown by a former Christian Brother to his victims after he was found guilty of a string of historic child sex offences, a judge has told a court in Belfast.
Judge Patrick Lynch KC was responding to a defence lawyer’s request for leniency in advance of the sentencing of Paul Dunleavy (88) on the grounds of his age and the likelihood he may die in prison.
Dunleavy, of Glen Road in west Belfast, was convicted in September on 32 counts of indecent assault, one of attempted buggery and four of gross indecency.
Sitting at Belfast Crown Court on Friday, Mr Lynch noted that the ex-school principal had insisted on all his nine victims giving evidence.
The offences spanned almost three decades between 1964 and 1991.
Some victims were present in court and heard that Dunleavy denied any wrongdoing when complaints were first made in 2010 – and the North’s Public Prosecution Service did not charge him.
Investigations reopened in 2018, when more people came forward, and he was subsequently convicted of offences relating to 18 victims across separate cases.
A principal at the Abbey Christian Brothers Primary school in Newry, Co Down, until he retired in 1998, Dunleavy abused children at other Christian Brother schools in Belfast and Co Armagh where he also taught and served as principal in the early 1980s.
Prosecution barrister Neil Connor told the court that his offending was “near if not at the top” of abuse-related crimes and included “oral penetration and ejaculation”.
“These would now be defined as rape,” the judge said.
“That’s correct,” replied Mr Connor.
The victims were aged between seven and 14 at the time.
Acting for Dunleavy, barrister Gary McHugh KC, said his client – who is currently in custody – will be in prison until his mid to late 90s.
There is the “very real prospect” that he may die in prison.
“There may be those who say so be it, but it is not as clear cut as the punitive component of the sentencing exercise,” he added.
“Prison for somebody in his 90s will be a significantly more difficult place than somebody in their 30s or 40s.”
In any proper sentencing regime, “mercy does remain a feature available to court”, Mr McHugh said, and pleaded for a reduced sentence, arguing that a very elderly prisoner will experience more health issues and a “sense of isolation” than a younger, healthier prisoner.
He added that the earliest prison release date for Dunleavy is May 2026, before he is sentenced for the latest conviction.
The judge responded: “Your client showed no mercy to the victims. In this case, your client insisted on them all having to give evidence. He showed no mercy even up to this very moment, showed no remorse, no anything.
“Does that engage the court’s concept of mercy?”
Mr Lynch said he would pass sentence next Thursday.