David Goodwillie rape victim Denise Clair will make legal history after government ministers ruled it is in the public interest for her to seek a private criminal prosecution.
In an unprecedented move, Denise’s legal team will now proceed with a bill of letters to the High Court in the first private criminal prosecution in Scotland for 150 years.
After an emotional 14-year fight for justice, the Scottish Government told Denise on Friday that they do consider her case to be “exceptional”.
They say it meets the requirements for legal aid funding, although they offered just £2,500 saying they must consider public finances.
Denise waited a year for the award, described as a “derisory” sum by opposition politicians.
However, Denise’s legal team, headed by Scotland’s top criminal counsel Thomas Ross KC and specialist solicitor Melissa Rutherford, will now act swiftly to begin the legal process.
Former professional footballer Goodwillie will be served with legal papers. He will have the opportunity to plead either guilty or not guilty to raping Denise, just as he would in any criminal trial.
Denise’s life has been destroyed after she was targeted by Goodwillie and then Dundee United teammate David Robertson, who bumped into her while she was on a rare night out.
She said: “I am elated that after all these years, I can finally begin the journey to proper justice.
“I have waited all this time to have the facts of this case tested in criminal court.
“It is disappointing that the Scottish Government made me wait an agonising extra year for a decision they could have made in 24 hours given they agree how exceptional this case is.
“However, thanks to the expertise of the best legal team in Scotland and the support I’ve received from The Post and everyone keeping this case in the public arena, I’m determined to see this journey to the bitter end for me and every other rape victim let down by our criminal justice system.”
Scottish Government approves ‘historic’ legal funding
The Scottish Government’s Justice Directorate has written to her lawyer to say ministers agree that her case met the required test, and it is now “for the courts to determine whether a private prosecution is appropriate in these circumstances”.
It said ministers decided “it would be right to allow an application for a private prosecution” and that it was an “appropriate use of public funds”.
The government say they have “no view on the decision not to prosecute” the case originally.
That hugely controversial decision was taken by the then Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland, in 2012, when rape charges were suddenly dropped against Goodwillie.
Denise remembers nothing of the night of the attack after accepting a drink from the players.
She awoke the next day, naked, alone and locked in a strange flat in Armadale. Denise called the police.
There was evidence of a premeditated targeted attack by Goodwillie and Robertson, who had sought keys to the empty flat.
Bar stewards, so concerned that Denise was virtually comatose that they wanted an ambulance, were told the players knew her and would take her home safely.
Tough new laws had just been brought in along with a sex crimes unit headed by prosecutor Derek Ogg who warned predators who targeted victims unable to give consent would be jailed.
David Goodwillie to be served legal papers
Forensic tests showed Denise had a potentially fatal level of alcohol in her system.
Goodwillie, who at the time was in the middle of a £2 million transfer bidding war between Rangers FC and other clubs, was represented by criminal counsel Paul McBride, a friend of Ogg.
Mulholland, who decided to drop charges against Goodwillie, spoke eloquently at McBride’s funeral following his untimely death in 2012.
The Scottish Football Association had awarded the player a major trophy while he still faced charges, and within minutes of the case being dropped Scotland manager Craig Levein was talking on the radio picking him for the national team.
Denise was so incensed she launched and was successful in the country’s first-ever civil action for rape.
Goodwillie was represented by Dorothy Bain, now the Lord Advocate.
One of Scotland’s most experienced judges, Lord Armstrong, ruled the players were rapists and liars, awarding Denise £100,000.
She never saw a single penny as Goodwillie went bankrupt.
Thomas Ross KC said: “The Scottish Government’s delay in dealing with a simple legal aid application was merely the latest way in which this brave woman has been let down by the criminal justice system, but I am happy for her that the correct decision has been reached.”
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: “SNP politicians regularly make warm noises about putting victims first while simultaneously treating them with stone cold disrespect – and this derisory payment is yet another such example of this heartless hypocrisy.”
Denise said: “I never wanted to ask the government for a penny. If the criminal system had done its job, I wouldn’t have had to. If I’d received the civil award, I would have used that.”
This story was originally published in The Sunday Post. Subscribe to the ePaper here.
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