Legal first as woman sues man cleared of her rape for £100k
A FORMER student seeking £100,000 damages from a man she claims raped her wept in court yesterday as she recalled the alleged attack.
The landmark legal action is the first time a person has been sued in a Scottish civil court following their acquittal in a criminal court.
The woman, identified only as Miss M, said she was sexually assaulted during St Andrews University freshers week by Stephen Coxen after returning home from a night out.
Mr Coxen has already walked free from a High Court trial after the rape charge against him was found not proven.
Miss M, who claims Mr Coxen, 23, raped her and injured her tongue, is suing him for damages and financial losses.
She has been granted funding by the Scottish Legal Aid Board to cover her costs.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard yesterday she had spent the evening drinking at a student party before going on to a club.
She drank four cans of cider, a bottle of rosé wine, a bottle of champagne and three glasses of wine mixed with vodka.
The court was told she awoke in her bed to find a man she did not know having sex with her, and he did not stop when she started crying.
She said: ‘I sort of was aware what was going on from the off, in the sense that I didn’t have any clothes on.
‘I was upset. I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t shout out. The person was naked as well. I felt sick, I was lying on my back, I found it difficult to breathe.’
Miss M said the attack happened while she was studying at St Andrews University in September 2013 after she attended a party at a friend’s flat.
She told the court she had problems recollecting what happened after going on to the Lizard Lounge nightclub but
‘I tried to push on his chest’
said the next thing she could remember was being outside her house.
The 23-year-old told the court she thought she was with a male friend before realising she did not know who the man was. She added: ‘My friends had Scottish accents but the person’s accent was an English accent.
‘I became quite panicked when I realised I didn’t know who the person was.’
Miss M said she repeatedly buzzed the door entry to her home and hoped her flatmates would let her in, but no one answered. She said she dropped the keys to her property in the street and they were picked up by the stranger.
She added: ‘My hand was pushed out of the way and the person picked up the keys. I was quite afraid.’
The court heard the next thing she remembered was that a man was having sex with her. She said: ‘I tried to push on his chest but I couldn’t do anything.’ She claimed the man put his hand on her face and started squeezing. She said she felt ‘so scared’ at this point then said the man forced her to perform a sex act on him.
Miss M said she had suffered an injury to her tongue which had later required surgery. She had not wanted her flatmates to know what had happened.
She said she had contacted her mother and gave her some of the details, but said that she then panicked after her mother became upset.
Asked if she had told her mother the whole story, she said: ‘No, I didn’t. I didn’t discuss it with any of my friends. I didn’t think any of them needed to know what happened.’
Miss M said the first time she had mentioned to her GP that she had been assaulted was in October 2013.
Mr Coxen, from Bury, Lancashire, contests the action.
The hearing, before Sheriff Robert Weir, QC, continues.