$5.9m payout by Western Bulldogs to child sex abuse survivor Adam Kneale slashed by more than half

A $5.9m payout by the Western Bulldogs to a child sex abuse survivor has been slashed by more than half, despite an appeal finding the club was still responsible for the horrific ordeal.

A record $5.9m compensation payout by the Western Bulldogs to a child sex abuse survivor has been slashed by more than half on appeal.

But the AFL club failed to overturn a jury’s finding that it was liable for Adam Kneale’s suffering at the hands of fundraising volunteer and convicted pedophile Graeme Hobbs in the 1980s, which his lawyers hailed as a victory.

A Supreme Court jury returned the landmark verdict last year, awarding Mr Kneale $5,943,151 in damages — the largest sum awarded by a jury to an abuse survivor in Australia and the first against an AFL club.

The club appealed both the jury’s findings and the compensation payout.

On Thursday, the Court of Appeal slashed the jury’s award for pain and suffering and economic loss, reducing the total payout to $2,637,573.

Child sex abuse survivor Adam Kneale’s record $5.9m compensation has been slash by more than half during an appeal. Picture: Josie Hayden

But it upheld the jury’s finding that the club was liable for the years-long sexual abuse suffered by Mr Kneale as a teenager.

Mr Kneale’s lawyer, Rightside Legal partner Michael Magazanik, said the ruling sent a strong message that organisations would be held to account.

“The Western Bulldogs will pay a hefty price for their failure, but that’s nothing compared to the cost to Adam. The Club caused him massive pain and suffering but tried to avoid paying him anything,” he said.

“The Bulldogs leadership in the 1980s and 90s had chances to stop the abuse, but a series of red flags was ignored.

“And even now the club’s current leadership can’t or won’t face the music — it fought Adam to verdict at trial and lost. And now it has lost again.”

Adam Kneale sued Footscray Football Club, now the Bulldogs, after suffering years of abuse from the age of 11 at the hands of club volunteer Graeme Hobbs. Picture: Supplied

Mr Magazanik said the revised sum of $850,000 for pain and suffering remained the highest award for general damages in Australian legal history.

With interest, Mr Kneale will receive about $2.9m.

Mr Kneale said his case was never about the money.

“A jury of regular people believed me, not the club and its lawyers, when they awarded me record damages, and nothing will take away that vindication of my story of what I suffered as a teenager, and ever since,” he said.

In a statement, the Bulldogs welcomed the decision to slash the payout.

“Notwithstanding the overall finding on liability, the Club also welcomes the Court of Appeal President’s dissenting judgment which additionally found that the initial Supreme Court decision should not have deemed the Club liable in any way,” it said.

“The Club would like to again express its sorrow at the suffering endured by Mr Kneale at the time and acknowledge the pain which he continues to carry because of the trauma he has experienced.”

Paedophile Graeme Hobbs, now dead, was a volunteer fundraiser for the Bulldogs. Picture: supplied

The three-week trial last year heard Hobbs, now dead, was a “Jack of all trades” at the Western Bulldogs, then known as Footscray Football Club, and a star fundraising volunteer for the cash-strapped team in the 1980s.

He was also a predator who abused a young Mr Kneale between 1984 and 1990 in club offices, boardroom, staff toilets, change rooms and a stand, as well as on a bus travelling with the cheer squad to and from Sydney.

Fearing Hobbs could prey on other children, Mr Kneale reported him to police in 1993.

Hobbs confessed and was jailed before he died in 2009.

In its appeal, the Bulldogs claimed “red flags” reported to senior club officials about Hobbs, including that he was a “sleazy character”, were not evidence enough to show he would commit child sexual abuse.