The publicity generated by the Lotto rapist case, a newspaper favourite for many years, seems to be helping those who suffered serious crimes against their person. This week, national firm Thompsons said that this publicity, as well as the precedent it set, has helped a group of men win compensation from a diocese that was once home to a paedophile priest.

Thompsons said that it recently won an undisclosed ‘substantial’ sum for three brothers who were abused by Bernard Traynor, a trainee priest working in the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese. Traynor, now 56, abused the boys over a number of years in the late 70s while they were in the care of St Vincents children's home in Newcastle. He pleaded guilty to the abuse in Newcastle Crown Court in 1995, receiving a two-year probation order.

According to Thompsons, the men, who did not want to be identified, were advised at the time by a solicitor that they couldn’t claim compensation for limitation reasons. Then they heard about the case of Iorworth Hoare, the convicted rapist who later won £7m on the lottery.

Hoare, a serial rapist, spent 16 years in prison for the attempted rape of a retired schoolteacher. He bought his winning lottery ticket while on day release. His victim, after hearing of his lottery win, launched an action to sue Hoare for compensation for psychological injuries sustained by Hoare’s attack. The case went all the way to the House of Lords, as it was then, which ruled in early 2008 that courts have the discretion to extend the limitation period within which compensation claims can be made, if the case involves serious assault.

The case was referred back to the High Court, where Mr Justice Coulson denied that the ruling would open the floodgates of litigation, and allowed her claim to proceed.

It was the media frenzy, often criticised by judges, that alerted Bernard Traynor’s victims to a potential claim for compensation against the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese. Thompsons settled the case for all three men, while of course noting that compensation cannot cure all.