Woman suing ex-Aberdeen player David Goodwillie gives evidence
A woman who claims she was raped by a former Scotand striker and another football player told a court today that she found herself naked and in pain after the alleged assault.
A woman who claims she was raped by a former Scotand striker and another football player told a court today that she found herself naked and in pain after the alleged assault.
The mother of one had gone out for the evening but had no recollection of leaving a pub for a nightclub.
She said she remembered waking the next morning and running from a bedroom and added: "I just seemed to be running about the house in a panic. I ran into every single room to see if I could make sense of my surroundings."
Her counsel Simon Di Rollo QC asked her what she was wearing and she replied: "Nothing. I was naked, but I didn't realise that until I was in the kitchen."
The 30-year-old is suing ex-Scotland striker David Goodwillie and former St Johnstone player, David Robertson, after raising a pounds 500,000 damages claim at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
She alleges that both men raped her in the early hours of January 2 in 2011 at a flat in Armadale, in West Lothian. It is said in the action that she was incapable because of the effect of alcohol of giving free agreement at the time when intercourse took place.
Both men deny the allegation and maintain that intercourse was consensual. Neither was prosecuted.
The woman said she realised she was in pain and told the court: "I couldn't find my clothes so I just put on anything," she said. She said put on a pair of jeans, a shirt and an Ugg boot and contacted relatives.
She said she saw two women and asked then where she was. "After a pause they said Greig Crescent. I had to ask 'where is this?'. After that they told me Armadale," she said.
She told the court that her brother said he would come straight away and get her. She added: "I didn't know if someone was coming for me."
The police were also called and she found articles of her clothing in the flat "stuffed down" the side of a bed in the premises before leaving. She said: "My pants were never recovered."
The woman said she had arranged to go out with a female friend in Bathgate the previous evening and remembered being at the Glenmavis Tavern, also known as Smith's, where she had seen Robertson. She said she had been drinking Jack Daniels and coke.
Mr Di Rollo asked her whether she had any recollection of the rest of the evening and she replied: "Nothing at all until I woke up the next morning."
She had phoned her friend and was told that she had left with "the two Davids" the other being a teammate of Robertson and that they were taking her home.
She said that at the time she did not know who current Plymouth Argyle player Goodwillie was and had not heard of him.
The woman said that later that month she was informed that DNA from former Dundee United, Blackburns Rovers and Aberdeen player Goodwillie was found on a swab taken from her.
Mr Di Rollo told the woman that it would be suggested to her that she voluntarily had intercourse with two men and asked: "Is that something you have done before?" She replied; "No"
The senior counsel asked if it was something she would ever have voluntarily agreed to and she said: "Never, I would never have agreed to do that."
She was asked what effect her lack of memory had had upon her and said: "My life has changed forever over a few hours I have no idea about." She said she had felt suicidal "several times"
She said that at the time she drank "very, very occasionally" and did not use recreational drugs.
In the action it is said on behalf of the woman that she was "visibly and obviously severely intoxicated" on the night.
In the players' defences it is said that recovered CCTV footage over a period from 23.08 pm to 2.25 am shows the woman was capable of walking, holding a coherent conversation and using her mobile phone.
It is maintained that it also shows her openly flirting and kissing Robertson and walking with her arm linked through Goodwillie's arm. It is said she voluntarily got into the taxi with them.
The judge ruled that the woman's evidence in the civil action should be heard in a court closed to the general public.
Lord Armstrong was told that the amount of damages to be paid if the woman succeeds in her case has been agreed. The hearing continues.