The woman raped by footballer David Goodwillie has accused the Scottish Government of holding up her attempts to bring a private prosecution against him – in a case expected to question the integrity of the country’s justice system.
Denise Clair’s legal team has been asking Scottish ministers for a decision on funding the landmark case for almost eight months, but they have been met with silence.
Thomas Ross KC, the advocate who leads the team, described the delay as “absolutely shameful”.
Both Denise and Goodwillie, from Stirling, have said they want the case fully examined in a criminal court so they can get on with their lives.
The Scottish Legal Aid Board would normally make their own decisions on whether or not to fund any case.
But because the possibility of a private criminal prosecution was never considered when officials drew up the rules on legal aid, it falls to the Scottish Government to decide whether or not to give permission for this unique case – the first private criminal prosecution in more than 150 years.
Denise was raped by Goodwillie and another footballer, David Robertson, at a flat in Armadale, in West Lothian, after a night out in Bathgate in January 2011 – but the Crown Office ruled there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.
Both men told police Denise had consented to sex.
However, forensic tests showed she had a potentially fatal amount of alcohol in her blood and was therefore incapable of giving consent.
Tough new laws on consent had just been introduced and could have been used for the first time.
Despite that, Goodwillie – whose lawyers were negotiating a £2.4 million football transfer deal from Dundee United to Blackburn at the time – was told he would not be prosecuted.
Extraordinarily, he was given a letter by the Crown Office informing him he would not be prosecuted – even before the results of tests on what were described as “three drugs of misuse” found in Denise’s system had come back.
‘The only way I can move on’
Questions have continued over the role of senior legal figures at the time and secrecy which surrounds their decisions.
Denise then brought a civil case against the two footballers – the first of its kind in Scotland – at the Court of Session in Edinburgh and, in 2017, Lord Armstrong ruled former United players Goodwillie and Robertson had raped her.
At the civil case, Goodwillie was represented by Dorothy Bain KC – now Scotland’s Lord Advocate and the woman in charge of the criminal prosecution system.
Since then, calls for the Crown Office to bring a new criminal case have been ignored, prompting Denise to try to bring a private prosecution.
She told The Sunday Post: “I have already waited 13 long years for justice.
“I believe a private criminal prosecution is the only way I will finally be able to move on with my life because people question the civil court verdict.
“Goodwillie has said he wants this too.
“If we both want the case examined in a criminal court, why would the Scottish Government and the criminal justice system not want the same thing, unless there are difficult questions they do not wish to answer?”
‘The spin vs the reality’
Meanwhile, Ross said the Scottish Government’s public statements on improving the system for rape victims were not matched by its actions.
He said: “In launching the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill in April 2023, the justice minister claimed the new law would ‘put victims at the heart of the justice system’ and ‘move Scotland closer to delivering person-centred, trauma-informed practice across our justice services’.
“That’s the spin.
“The reality is that Denise was let down by the prosecution system in 2011 and, having waited 13 years for justice, has been re-traumatised by the Scottish Government’s failure to provide a decision, or even provide her solicitor with any meaningful information, in the months since her application for legal aid was submitted.
“The further delay by the Scottish Government is absolutely shameful.
“The justice minister must explain it at the earliest opportunity.”
After Goodwillie met Denise at a Bathgate nightclub in January 2011, keys had been sought from a third party to access an empty house – showing premeditation.
Instead of keeping the promises made to bouncers at a nightclub who were so concerned Denise was falling in and out of unconsciousness they wanted to call an ambulance, she was instead taken to that house where she was raped.
Goodwillie left her there, alone, naked and unconsciousness, locked in a strange house.
When she awoke, terrified, distressed, and with no idea where she was, Denise immediately called the police, fearing something terrible had happened to her.
She told them that after accepting a drink, she remembered nothing from the evening before.
When she was told there was evidence she had been raped, Denise did not know who her rapist was.
She was shocked when Goodwillie – whose signing by Raith Rovers in 2022 prompted the biggest crisis in the Kirkcaldy club’s history – was named and charged.
‘I lost everything’
Denise was subjected to unbearable trolling and abuse from football fans.
Some messages were frightening, warning her she would be raped, that they knew where she lived, and they were coming to get her.
Denise, who held a responsible job within the prison service, said: “It was terrifying because I didn’t know who was making those threats, if they really did know where I lived or what they were capable of doing.
“I was left suicidal, traumatised and unable to leave my home for fear of attack.
“The system continued to let me down until I was a broken shell. I lost everything.”
Even after winning the civil case against Goodwillie, Denise says so many questions still remain.
During a podcast this year, Goodwillie said: “I want to fight and clear my name just as much as she wants to fight and get justice. Because I want justice as well.”
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: “Nobody’s interests are served by this delay, and I would urge ministers to stop dithering, or at the very least explain why they have not reached a decision in this sensitive and unusual case.
“No alleged rape victim should be forced to pursue such a long and painful fight for justice, but all too often serious crime victims say they feel disrespected and ignored.”
The Scottish Government said: “We have received this application which is unique and complex and requires proper consideration.
“We are working as quickly as possible to make a decision.”
The Courier last year revealed the leaking of confidential documents from the Goodwillie rape case had been reported to police.
The private correspondence emerged on social media and was shared by supporters of the shamed footballer days after he mounted a PR campaign, vowing to tell “his truth” about the events of 2011.
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