Man cleared of rape sued for £100k by his accuser
Jury found court case not proven
A FORMER student is suing a man who was accused of raping her for £100,000 – more than two years after he was cleared.
Stephen Coxen, 27, was charged with raping her at her flat and stealing her phone while she was drunk during freshers’ week at St Andrews University in September 2013.
He denied the charges and a jury found the case not proven in November 2015.
The woman, Miss M, has mounted an action through the civil courts, seeking £100,000 in damages and financial loss.
The landmark case is thought to be the first time since 1924 that a woman has mounted a civil action in Scotland following an unsuccessful rape prosecution.
Miss M accuses Mr Coxen, of Bury, Lancashire, of raping her and injuring her tongue. She has been granted funding by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). The case is due at the Court of Session in March.
It follows a successful civil court action for rape last year against two footballers, David Goodwillie and David Robertson. The former Dundee United team-mates were ordered to pay agreed damages of £100,000 to Denise Clair.
Miss Clair, 30, sued the pair at the Court of Session, claiming they sexually assaulted and raped her at a flat in Armadale, West Lothian.
Neither footballer was prosecuted in a criminal court and both men maintained sex had been consensual.
Miss M told BBC Scotland: ‘After the criminal case I sought legal advice. That’s when I realised taking a rape case to a civil court was possible.’
Miss M said she had received funding from SLAB, the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre and Rape Crisis Scotland.
She added: ‘I feel the criminal case did fail me. Hopefully, the civil route will get some justice for me and my family.’
‘For me it has never been about the money. It is the only route I have left.
‘I did think after the criminal trial I wouldn’t be able to continue – but I wasn’t ready to give up. I don’t want to look back in 20 years and realise I could have gone down a different route. I want to do all I can do at the moment.’
Yesterday, a relative of Mr Coxen refused to comment. But it is understood he plans to defend the claim.
The burden of proof required in civil cases is lower than in criminal cases.
Rape Crisis Scotland chief executive Sandy Brindley said: ‘The civil route is not easy but it does give some possibility of justice.
‘There are a lot of barriers to a civil rape case, not least how to fund it. It is also not people’s first choice. What they want is justice through the criminal justice system.
‘We need to concentrate on why it feels like the criminal justice system has let down so many rape complainers.’
A SLAB spokesman said: ‘Where someone who is legally aided is successful in a civil case and the court awards expenses or damages, these can cover some or all of the cost to the legal aid fund.’
‘Criminal system did fail me’