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September 11, 2000 part 1
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September 28, 2000
January 7, 2001 |
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United Kingdom: Scotland
Monday
September 11, 2000
13:40 GMT
NUN'S 'SHAME' AT HITTING GIRL
A nun on trial for cruelty has admitted she felt ashamed after hitting a
child with a book.
Marie Docherty, who was known as Sister Alphonso but now prefers the
title Sister Marie, said she still felt guilty about the incident.
She told Aberdeen Sheriff Court she was not accustomed to going around
hitting children on the head.
Marie Docherty was giving evidence on the 20th day of her trial. She
denies 21 charges of using cruel and unnatural treatment towards girls at Nazareth House
homes in Aberdeen and Lasswade over a 15-year period.
Under cross-examination by depute fiscal Anne Macdonald, she admitted
feeling ashamed at having struck witness Catherine Ennaaomaoui when she was a child at
Nazareth House.
Asked if she accepted she had used cruel and unnatural treatment towards
her, she said no, it had not been a malicious attack.
She also denied being angry or in a fit of temper. However, she said she
was worried she had hurt the child and knew she should not have done it.
Asked why she thought so many of the former residents had brought charges
against her, she said: "I can't read into their minds, I can't read into their
hearts, and
I am not going to judge them."
The trial, which is in its fifth week, continues.
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