Pain and pride of a mother who always believed
safety and that of her daughter that she moved in with her mother.
She added: “I was called vile names, described in the most horrible terms. I suffered a dreadful sense of helplessness. There were times when I thought no-one in the world believes what I am saying.
“However, my daughter and family were rocks that saved me.
“When the footballers raped me, my dad was battling the cancer that would claim his life just a few months later, at the age of 57.
“My poor dad was fighting for his life and apologising to me that he could not be more of a support to me.
“He lay on his death bed, crying because he knew the cancer would take him before I got justice.”
John’s love and support for his daughter was an inspiration, as were her mum, also Denise, 57, and her five brothers and sister, who were “pillars of strength”.
She added: “I don’t know what I would have done without them. The strain on them has been enormous but they were always there.
“In the days when I was still scared from the world, during the bouts of depression, they were in my corner.”
It is their love and support which sustained Denise to her victory at the Court of Session where Lord Armstrong awarded her damages of £100,000.
She said: “It was never about money, most of which will go toward legal costs.
“I don’t care. It was only ever about the truth. And anyway, no amount of money could buy back the part of my life I lost.”
The young woman is heartened, though, that her brave six-year battle and Lord Armstrong’s judgment will mean that rape will now be perceived as something more than a woman being dragged into the bushes by a monster.
She said: “That is very comforting. Hopefully, it will be a hard lesson DENISE CLAIR’S mother – also called Denise – never for one moment doubted the truth of the appalling story she was told by her daughter. As a mum, she felt her child’s pain but could only offer her love and words of comfort.
In the months and years ahead, many would cast aspersions on the younger Denise, calling her vile names and claiming she was a publicity-seeking liar who had wilfully accused two footballers of raping her.
But the 63-year-old housewife and former carer believed in her daughter and could only pray that, in the end, justice would prevail.
The mother-of-seven said: “I felt so helpless for I knew that what they said about Denise could not possibly be true. It was not my daughter they were describing.
“I knew she was incapable of behaving in such a way. But the pressure on her was almost unbearable. She was driven from her home and it was dreadful to see my grown daughter sobbing like a child.
“But I knew she would come through in the end and that the lies of the men who abused her would be exposed.
“I have nothing but contempt for what they put her through over the last six years. I am so proud of Denise’s determination to stand firm and to fight.
“It is just so sad that her dad, John, who was taken from us by cancer, could not be here to see what she has achieved, not just for herself but for women everywhere.
“He would be so proud of his little girl.” for men who believe they can do as they wish, no matter what state a woman is in. Hopefully, the world is a little safer now for all of us.”
Her landmark victory is a new beginning for Denise who hopes now to forge a new career as a personal trainer and life coach.
She added: “I got the help I needed from Rape Crisis Scotland, Cameron Fyfe, Neil Findlay MSP and life coach James McCourt. I now want to give something back and, when I am strong enough, I will.
“As for Goodwillie and Robertson, I have never allowed them to get the better of me and I never will.
“I won’t waste a day of my life hating them. I will not expend precious energy on negativity. “I do not, however, have any sympathy for them. They have been revealed for what they are – vile, predatory and without compassion.
“The difference now is that the world knows it and the weight I carried for so long has been lifted from me and placed on their shoulders – a burden of shame they will carry for the rest of their lives.
“I can start again. Where can they go to escape what they are?”
Additional reporting by Alistair Grant.