Court rules acquitted man did rape student

A MAN cleared of raping a St Andrews University student on a night out must pay her £80,000 in damages, a court ruled yesterday in a landmark civil action.

The woman, a second year student at the university at the time, said she woke after drinking too much during freshers’ week in 2013 to find she was being raped by 23-year-old Stephen Coxen.

Coxen, of Bury, Greater Manchester, was acquitted of rape in 2015 after a jury returned a “not proven” verdict, unique in Scottish law.

But the woman, known only as Miss M, raised a civil action at the personal injury court in Edinburgh.

It is the first time in recent Scottish legal history that someone cleared in a criminal trial has subsequently been sued.

Sheriff Robert Weir said in his ruling that her evidence was “cogent, compelling and persuasive”. He found that Coxen took advantage of her when she was incapable of giving meaningful consent because of the effects of alcohol.

The sheriff said she had been distressed and had resisted, but Coxen continued to rape her.

Following the ruling yesterday the victim appealed to other women who found themselves in a similar position to “speak up”.

Miss M, now 23, said she felt vindicated by the ruling, adding: “It has taken me five years to get justice, and for society to send Stephen Coxen a message that what he did was wrong.

“To the many, many others who find themselves in a position like this: speak up.

“It is only by telling these stories we can exert the pressure that is so clearly needed to improve our criminal justice system.”

Mr Coxen’s lawyer, Mark Thorley, said his client was considering the judgment.