Mystery of Goodwillie lawyer’s phone calls with court bosses
Top QC We need inquiry into decision
The QC for rapist footballer David Goodwillie held phone discussions with prosecutors ahead of the controversial decision to scrap the criminal case against him.
Records show Paul McBride QC was in contact with officials at the Crown Office on more than one occasion.
Victim Denise Clair was left devastated when prosecutors decided not to bring the case to court.
Denise fought a fiveyear battle for justice which this year saw the Court of Session rule she had been raped by footballers Goodwillie and co- accused David Robertson.
Labour have already backed calls for an inquiry into the Crown Office’s handling of the case.
The revelation there was contact between Good willie’ s QC and prosecutors came following a Freedom of Information request by the Sunday Mail.
The Crown Of f ice confirmed “that we do hold some records of telephone discussion between the late Paul McBride and staff at Crown Office”.
A senior legal source said: “This was a case which never went to court.
“Therefore, it would be interesting to find out what was being discussed with the Crown Office and why.”
The Crown refused to divulge further details on the conversations with McBride, stating to do so “would inhibit legal opinions or advice expressed in future”. They said this “would not be in the public interest”. And they added: “It is common practice for counsel- to-counsel discussions to take place from an early stage in serious criminal cases.”
The Crown said there was “a very strong public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of communications between solicitors”.
QC Brian McConnachie said: “In what is known as pre-petition procedure, the Crown can ask police to investigate the case before it comes to court. It would not be unusual for someone facing such a serious charge to employ someone to give advice and ascertain what is happening.”
Denise believed she had been raped by Goodwillie and Robertson after she awoke naked and alone in a strange flat on January 2, 2011, after a night out in Bathgate.
The case was reported to prosecutors. But Denise was left devastated when the Crown Office told her they were not even bringing the case to court. The rape charge against Goodwillie was dropped in July 2011. He completed a £2.8million transfer to Blackburn Rovers weeks later.
Convinced of the seemingly overwhelming evidence, Denise pursued a civil case against the pair. The Court of Session ruled in January this year that Goodwillie and Robertson had raped her.
We revealed how a key witness, taxi driver Billy McNeill, claimed a female f iscal told him the case would be examined by officials “upstairs” because of the pair’s status as footballers.
The decision not to bring the case to court was taken by then Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland – now a judge – according to former head of the National Sex Crimes Unit Derek Ogg QC.
Thomas Ross, then president of the Scottish Criminal Bar Association, said he “cannot comprehend” the Crown Office’s failure to prosecute Goodwillie and Robertson.
Top lawyer Bert Kerrigan QC added: “An appropriate inquiry is the only way to allay public concern over the decision not to proceed with criminal charges.”
Goodwillie is appealing the Court of Session’s decision.