A retired company director has won a stay on an order directing him to pay €4.7 million compensation to two women he raped as children.

Joseph Carrick (72) of Carysfort Woods, Blackrock in Co. Dublin is bringing a Supreme Court appeal against the damages awards handed down by two High Court juries last November.

Carrick, who was once a director of a successful shipping company, was ordered to pay a record €4 million to Jacqueline O'Toole by a jury who found he had raped and abused her in the early 1970s when they were in a choir together.

The abuse happened when she was 12 and 13 years of age and resulted in her becoming pregnant.

Another jury awarded damages of €700,000 to Jacqueline's cousin Geraldine Nolan for the systematic sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of Carrick, who was described in court as an 'evil paedophile who preyed on children'.

The retired businessman did not defend either set of proceedings but subsequently tried to have the awards set aside by claiming he had been suffering from a mild cognitive impairment.

Last week, Ms. Justice Elizabeth Dunne found his inaction was a result of poor judgment rather than mental incapacity and she refused to use the court's powers to overturn the juries' findings.

However today she ruled that the 72-year-old is not obliged to pay the women damages while his case is under appeal, partly because his assets have already been frozen by order of the court.

Carrick is seeking an urgent Supreme Court hearing in which he will challenge the amount awarded to his victims and their alleged delay in bringing proceedings against him.