Cost of defending Smyllum's Daughters of Charity at inquiry £400,000?

It has claimed that the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry legal bill being run up by the order of nuns who ran the former Smyllum Orphanage in Lanark could be around £400,000.
Smyllum Park, the site of the former orphanage in Lanark. Picture: Sarah PetersSmyllum Park, the site of the former orphanage in Lanark. Picture: Sarah Peters
Smyllum Park, the site of the former orphanage in Lanark. Picture: Sarah Peters

A national newspaper reported on Monday that newly released accounts show legal costs running at £287,000 for representing the Daughters of Charity during the initial stages of the inquiry last year but this does not yet include the figure for representing the Order during the additional six days of evidence at the inquiry earlier this year.

Efforts by the Gazette to contact the Order for comment on this report were fruitless at time of going to press this week,