Ex-dundee United footballer fails to clear name over Armadale flat rape

Former Scotland footballer David Goodwillie has failed in a legal bid to overturn a court ruling branding him a rapist.

The 28-year-old and his exdundee United teammate David Robertson, 30, lodged an appeal after a judge in a civil case ruled they had raped Denise Clair in 2011.

A full police investigation was carried out into the incident, but no criminal prosecution took place.

Mr Goodwillie and Mr Robertson were ordered to pay Ms Clair, 31, a total of £100,000 damages after she sued them claiming they raped her at a flat in Armadale, West Lothian in 2011.

They claimed judge Lord Armstrong had ignored key evidence relating to CCTV and statements given by Clifford Wilson, who lives above the flat where the rape allegedly took place.

However, appeal judges have now thrown out their bid to have the decision overturned following a two-day hearing at the Court of Session earlier this month.

Lady Dorrian, the Lord Justice Clerk sitting with Lady Clark and Lord Malcolm, ruled the original judge was right to conclude that Ms Clair was incapable of giving consent on the night of the incident.

Mr Goodwillie’s legal team claimed that CCTV evidence showed the true extent of Ms Calir’s intoxication would not have been clear to the two footballers.

They also argued that evidence given by Mr Wilson backed up their claims the sex was consensual.

However, in the ruling, Lady Clark said: “In light of all this evidence we do not consider that there is any merit in the suggestion that the Lord Ordinary did not give sufficient weight to the CCTV evidence.

“As to the argument that there was room to differentiate between the reclaimers as to their likely degree of knowledge of the respondent’s condition and presentation, we do not accept that there was a basis for differentiating between either reclaimer in this way to any material degree.

“Both had spent time in the respondent’s company during the course of the night. Her progressive intoxication, spoken to by several witnesses, must have been apparent to them both.

“The Lord Ordinary concluded that the respondent’s ‘impaired cognitive functioning and general condition of intoxication was so obvious and manifest’ that the reclaimers must have been aware of it and that she was incapable of giving free agreement to sexual activity.”

The judges also dismissed the evidence of Mr Wilson, who claimed he heard sexual activity coming from the flat, as irrelevant.

Lady Dorrian added: “The Lord Ordinary considered the evidence to be confused and that he could not, on a balance of probability, ascribe what Mr Wilson heard to the central events in question.

“In our view that was a conclusion which was open to the Lord Ordinary on the evidence.

“Even if we had concluded that the Lord Ordinary had erred in his treatment of the evidence of Clifford Wilson, we consider that this reclaiming motion would nevertheless be refused.

“Even if what Mr Wilson heard could have been attributed to the events in question, we are not persuaded that this would have made any difference to the outcome.”

After January’s original ruling, Mr Goodwillie quit English League Two side Plymouth Argyle to “focus on a potential appeal”. He later signed for Scottish League Two side Clyde.

Mr Goodwillie earned three caps for Scotland and made 136 appearances for Dundee United across two separate stints from 2006-14. He has also played for Aberdeen, Ross County and Raith Rovers.