Woman sobs as she sues man she accused of rape
Ex-student begins a landmark £100,000 court action
A WOMAN who has launched a £100,000 legal action against a man she claims raped her wept in court yesterday as she recalled the alleged attack.
The 23-year-old, who can only be identified as Miss M, said she was sexually assaulted by Stephen Coxen, also 23, after returning from a night out in St Andrews, Fife. She was a student at the town’s university at the time.
She told Edinburgh Sheriff Court she had spent the evening BY JAMES MULHOLLAND in September 2013 drinking at a student party before going on to a nightclub.
The woman said she drank four cans of cider, a bottle of rose wine, a bottle of champagne and three glasses of sparkling wine which were mixed with vodka.
She told Sheriff Robert Weir QC she remembers waking up in her bed to find a man she didn’t know having sex with her. She said: “I was lying on my bed when I came around.
“Within a second, I realised there was somebody on top of me. I suppose that person was having sex with me.”
Miss M is seeking damages from Coxen, of Bury, as a consequence of what she said happened.
Coxen stood trial on charges of raping the woman but walked free after jurors returned a not proven verdict. In a legal first after an unsuccessful rape prosecution in Scotland, the woman has mounted an action through the civil courts seeking just under £100,000 in damages and financial losses.
She accuses Coxen of raping her and injuring her tongue and has been granted funding to cover her costs by the Scottish Legal Aid Board.
The hearing continues.