Former Dons star David Goodwillie his ex-teammate were found to have raped a mum-of-one and ordered to pay £100,000 damages today – despite never facing a criminal trial.
The victim, who was left “devastated” by a Crown decision not to prosecute, sued striker Goodwillie and his then Dundee United colleague David Robertson claiming that they raped her at a flat in Armadale, in West Lothian, after a night out in nearby Bathgate.
The woman said she could not remember what had happened since she was in a Bathgate bar until she woke up in the strange flat the following morning.
The 30-year-old originally sought £500,000 in compensation, but damages were later agreed at £100,000 in a civil action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
The woman maintained that she was incapable of giving free agreement to sex because of her alcohol consumption, but Goodwillie (27) who now plays with Plymouth Argyle, and Robertson claimed that intercourse had been consensual.
A judge said: “Having carefully examined and scrutinised the whole evidence in the case, I find the evidence of the pursuer (the woman) to be cogent, persuasive and compelling.”
Lord Armstrong said: “In the result, therefore, I find that in the early hours of Sunday January 2 2011, at the flat in Greig Crescent, Armadale, both defenders (the footballers) took advantage of the pursuer when she was vulnerable through an excessive intake of alcohol and, because her cognitive functioning and decision making processes were so impaired, was incapable of giving meaningful consent; and that they each raped her.”
The judge said that he found neither Goodwillie nor Robertson to be credible or reliable on the issue of whether they had a reasonable or honest belief that she was consenting.
He rejected evidence relied on by the players that the woman was not particularly affected by alcohol and was no more drunk than anyone else in the company they had been in that night.
The judge said of former Blackburn Rovers and Aberdeen striker Goodwillie: “The first defender was not an impressive witness. Particularly in relation to his assessment of the pursuer’s condition, his evidence was given with a view to his own interests rather than in accordance with the oath which he had taken. I did not find his evidence to be persuasive.”
