Former NI pupil awarded £50k over 'degrading' video

A young man looks into the camera. He's wearing a black suit with a tie and a white shirt. A large building is behind him.
Gabriel McConkey was awarded £50,000 in a civil case [BBC]

A former pupil of Methodist College Belfast was left "traumatised" after "degrading" videos were recorded of him on a school rugby trip.

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 older pupils forced him and others to run naked around the resort they were staying in.

BBC News NI has contacted the school for comment.

A woman looks into the camera smiling. She has short brown hair and is wearing a pink coat. She's standing outside.
Gabriel's mum says he was "absolutely broken" when he returned from the school trip [BBC]

It is his case that they then used the video to coerce him into having his head shaved.

He was also forced to witness other boys as they were coerced into performing a sexual act on a sex toy.

His mother, Sian Mawhinney, told BBC News NI that her son was "absolutely broken" when he returned from the trip in December 2022.