Prosecutors 'wrong' not to bring David Goodwillie to court over rape claim, says KC for victim

Published: 15:32 EST, 12 November 2026 | Updated: 15:32 EST, 12 November 2026 Prosecutors were ‘wrong’ not to prosecute former Dundee United player David Goodwillie for rape, a court has heard.Advocate Thomas Ross, KC, told appeal judges the Crown had failed to follow correct legal procedures when it dropped the criminal case against the footballer.The lawyer is acting for the woman who accused the striker of raping her after a night out in Bathgate, West Lothian, in 2011.Denise Clair, who has waived her right to anonymity, is seeking permission to bring a private prosecution against Goodwillie.Such proceedings, known formally as a Bill for Criminal Letters, are extremely rare in Scotland with only two brought in the 20th century and none in recent times.The mother took a civil damages action against Goodwillie and his then teammate David Robertson after the Crown elected not to prosecute and the pair were ruled to have raped her.Ms Clair has enlisted the help of Mr Ross who is asking the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh to grant permission to bring the private prosecution against the 37-year-old.The KC told judges Lord Pentland, Lord Matthews and Lady Carmichael that prosecutors had enough evidence available about the alleged crime to bring the player to court. Denise Clair is seeking permission to bring a private prosecution against David GoodwillieMr Ross said: ‘In any calendar year the prosecution services receives 150,000 to 200,000 reports each year to consider. It is inevitable that mistakes will be made.‘It is our submission that there was a substantial body of evidence available which supports out position that the first respondent [Goodwillie] assaulted the complainer. Our position is that in the circumstances the Crown have got it wrong.’Ms Clair went for a night out in Bathgate on January 1, 2011 before she claimed she was raped at a flat in nearby Armadale.During the civil action, the Court of Session heard she travelled in a taxi with the two players to the property and woke up naked in a strange house.The judge, Lord Armstrong, found that in the early hours of the following morning the two footballers took advantage of her when she was vulnerable through an excessive intake of alcohol and raped her. They had denied the rape but were ordered to pay £100,000 in damages.On Thursday, Mr Ross told the court that witness statements provided to the Crown could have given it the basis to bring the prosecution. The court heard there was evidence available to show Ms Clair had been drunk. A taxi driver called Billy McNeill told police officers that he picked up the trio in Bathgate.Mr Ross told the court the witness had said ‘I was getting a no right feeling about the lassie because of the guys’.The KC added: ‘He later says that if [she] was his own daughter he would have not have allowed her to leave the taxi.’Mr Ross said the Crown had made an irrational decision in deciding not to prosecute Goodwillie. But Crown lawyer Alan Cameron, KC, said prosecutors had acted correctly. He added: ‘There are no exceptional circumstances which would permit the issuing of criminal letters.’Goodwillie’s lawyer, Lord Stewart of Dirleton, KC, said that legal tests which needed to be passed to bring it on were not passed.He also said evidence given by his client at the civil case could be used in a private prosecution which would be unfair to him.The lawyer added: ‘The evidence proceeded on the Lord Advocate having renounced the right to prosecute. Had it been clear a prosecution was going to follow then the Lord Advocate should have issued a warning.’Lord Pentland, Scotland’s most senior judge, said: ‘We will issue a judgment as soon as practicable.’