Woman raped by Raith Rovers footballer says Nicola Sturgeon should have spoken out sooner

The woman who was raped by footballer David Goodwillie has questioned why Nicola Sturgeon did not speak up earlier about him continuing his professional football career.

Denise Clair said the outrage that erupted last week after Raith Rovers signed the striker was justified but came many years too late.

Although she welcomed Ms Sturgeon's criticism of the signing last week, she said she could not recall the First Minister saying anything when a campaign was launched four years ago to force Clyde to sack Goodwillie.

Speaking for the first time since Goodwillie's transfer from Clyde to Raith, she questioned why he had been allowed to continue playing after she won a civil case that ruled he had raped her.

She told the Sunday Post the willingness of football clubs, the sport's authorities and politicians to turn a blind eye as Goodwillie carried on with his professional career had been appalling. He has never admitted his actions or apologised for them.

'Only football mattered, rape victims didn't'

Ms Clair said a campaign to stop him playing at Clyde "got nowhere" with the club or North Lanarkshire Council, which owns its ground, as "only football mattered, rape victims didn't."

"Of course people should be outraged and scandalised that a man like that was playing for Raith Rovers but he has never stopped playing," she said.

"He was picked for Clyde four days after judges rejected his appeal and confirmed he raped me. That was four years ago and that's when people should have been outraged and scandalised."

She added: "The First Minister was correct to condemn Raith Rovers last week but I don't remember her saying anything at all four years ago about why he was still playing for Clyde or why the case against him was dropped."

Ms Clair said she appreciated the efforts of the "very few" politicians who raised the case at the time. They included Ruth Davidson, Richard Leonard and Willie Rennie, who were then the Scottish Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat leaders.

She took legal action in the civil courts after being left "devastated" by a Crown decision not to prosecute Goodwillie and David Robertson, his then Dundee Utd colleague.

It was the first civil rape case of its kind in Scotland. Lord Armstrong ruled in Jan 2017 that they raped her at a flat in Armadale, in West Lothian, after a night out six years earlier.

The standard of proof required in criminal trials is guilty beyond all reasonable doubt but it is lower in civil cases, where the case must be shown on the balance of probabilities.

'Incapable of giving meaningful consent'

The judge found that her decision making was so impaired she was "incapable of giving meaningful consent; and that they each raped her."

Ms Clair, who previously waived her right to anonymity, was awarded £100,000 damages from the pair but Goodwillie was discharged from bankruptcy days before signing for Raith Rovers without having paid a penny.

The club initially defended signing the 32-year-old, arguing the decision was based primarily on his abilities on the pitch, but two directors resigned in protest, sponsors withdrew and its women's teams moved to sever ties with the club.

Among the prominent figures leading the protests were Raith Rover supporters Gordon Brown and author Val McDermid, who ended her sponsorship of the team's shirt.

The club then performed an about-turn, saying Goodwillie would not play for the team and his contract was being reviewed. It is understood a pay-off is being negotiated.

Chairman John Sim said the club "bitterly regret" the signing and he had "learned a hard but valuable lesson."

A Scottish Government spokesman said Ms Sturgeon had made her views known last week and had nothing more to add.