GOODWILLIE VICTIM 'IN LIMBO' OVER CRIMINAL TRIAL
The victim of rapist footballer David Goodwillie says she has been "left in limbo" by the Scottish government's failure to reopen criminal proceedings against him.A civil action found the former Scotland striker and then-Dundee United teammate David Robertson had raped Denise Clair in 2011.
Her legal team say government ministers have failed to respond six months after their official request for legal aid to fund a private prosecution in a criminal court.
The Scottish government said it was working "as quickly as possible" to make a decision.
Ms Clair's legal team won a civil action in 2017.
Now she says she has been let down by prosecutors and needs a criminal prosecution to give her closure and "prevent the same thing from happening to anyone else".
She told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I need a prosecution for myself but this isn’t just about me anymore.
"Throughout these last 14 years I have been let down countless times by the Crown Office.
"I feel like, if they’re not held to account, these failures will continue to happen to other people.
"Six months after raising this with the government, I have been left in limbo.
"I took on the civil case and I was very satisfied with that but it was never enough." Ms Clair says that, prior to the criminal case being dropped, she had been repeatedly assured by the Crown Office that the case would be held at the High Court, only for that to be "snatched away" from her.
"It doesn’t make sense to me," she said.
"There is a lot about this that makes no sense." "It does still have a huge impact on me.
Anyone who knows me knows I am a strong person, but there’s only so much one person can take.
"The message that the Scottish government is sending out is that they have failed to take action." A Scottish government spokesperson 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."
