Disgraced footballer quits game after rape case shame
footballer David robertson has quit the game less than a week after a judge ruled he and a former teammate raped a woman six years ago.
In a landmark civil case, lord armstrong ordered robertson and his ex-Dundee United colleague David Goodwillie to pay young mother Denise Clair £100,000 damages after raping her at a house in armadale, West lothian, in 2011.
the Crown office’s decision not to prosecute the pair in the criminal courts has since been questioned by politicians and campaigners.
Yesterday, robertson’s club, Cowdenbeath fC, announced the 30-year-old’s retirement from professional football.
Club chairman Donald findlay said: ‘I wish to thank David for all his hard work during his stay at Central Park.’
after the verdict last tuesday, the club said it would need to ‘consider
‘Vulnerable through excessive alcohol’
and review’ the full details of the case, and would not select robertson to play in the interim.
Striker Goodwillie, 27, continues to be signed to league two side Plymouth argyle fC. the club has not updated its statement from last week, when it said it needed to consider the details of the report and would not select Goodwillie in the meantime.
after the Crown office refused to prosecute the pair, Miss Clair took her case to the Court of Session.
lord armstrong ruled last week that they had ‘taken advantage’ of the mother of one ‘when she was vulnerable through an excessive intake of alcohol’ and each raped her. they were ordered to pay their 30-year-old victim £100,000.
the ruling made Miss Clair the only woman in Scottish legal history to successfully sue rapists.
In an interview at the weekend, she disclosed that the men had offered her £115,000 to drop the case, in what she described as an attempt to ‘buy me off’.
In the ruling, lord armstrong criticised both footballers for their evidence, suggesting former blackburn rovers and aberdeen striker Goodwillie lied under oath ‘with a view to his own interests’.
the players have always insisted they had consensual sex with Miss Clair and Goodwillie – who married last summer – has stated his desire to appeal the decision.
In a statement he said: ‘I am struggling to understand why the judge has discounted my evidence and the other evidence of those who said what they saw or heard that morning.
‘I am taking advice on what options are open to me regarding lodging an appeal.’
Miss Clair, a former Scottish Prison Service careers adviser, said during the case she remembered going to the Glenmavis tavern in bathgate on the evening of January 1, 2011. She remembered meeting robertson there but had no memory of Goodwillie.
She said she had no recollection of leaving the pub for a nightclub and her next memory was waking in a strange house in the morning, naked and unable to find her clothes.
the judge said that Miss Clair’s memory loss was best explained as ‘the phenomenon of alcoholic blackout’.
Miss Clair said in court: ‘I felt sore inside, as if something had happened to me but I couldn’t say what it was. I felt a lot of pain inside.
‘I thought something must have happened to me but I had no idea what. I didn’t know where I was.’
tests found traces of Goodwillie’s DNa in samples taken from Miss Clair.
robertson has previously played for Dundee United, St Johnstone, Greenock Morton, livingston, ayr United and Selkirk.
He won the Scottish Cup with Dundee United in 2010 and has previously represented the Scotland under-21 team.
robertson was not available for comment at his home in bathgate last night.
a Crown office spokesman said of the outcome: ‘as lord armstrong stated in his judgment, the standard of proof to be satisfied was that of the balance of probabilities, which is a less onerthe ous requirement than the standard in criminal cases, which is “beyond reasonable doubt”.
‘further, there is no requirement of corroboration in civil cases, unlike in criminal cases.
‘this case was looked at very carefully by Crown Counsel, who concluded that there was insufficient evidence in law to raise crimi- nal proceedings. as a result, no proceedings were instructed.’
but thomas ross, an advocate and president of the Scottish Criminal bar association, said many were surprised by the Crown office’s decision.
He said: ‘I simply cannot comprehend it. along with many of my professional colleagues I am mystified at that assessment of the evidence apparently available to the Crown.’
In her weekend interview with Sunday Post, Miss Clair revealed the footballers had offered her £115,000 to drop the case.
She said: ‘there was a pre-trial meeting of the advocates in edinburgh on September 21.
‘an increased offer on behalf of both men of £115,000, including expenses, was made. again, I refused.
‘lord armstrong awarded me £100,000 – less than the players wanted to buy me off with – and most of it will be swallowed up by legal costs. I don’t mind, though.
‘all that matters is that I am vindicated. I wanted the truth to emerge and no amount of money would have bought my silence or made up for the suffering I, and my family, endured.’
She added: ‘I would never have accepted anything out of court. I was never for sale.’
In his ruling, lord armstrong said that having ‘carefully examined and scrutinised the whole evidence’, he found the evidence from Miss Clair, the pursuer, was ‘cogent, persuasive and compelling’.
‘I didn’t know where I was’