Judges consider bid for private prosecution of former Scotland striker David Goodwillie

Judges in Edinburgh are considering an application by Denise Clair to bring a private criminal prosecution against former Scotland footballer David Goodwillie. BBC News reported that the Court of Criminal Appeal heard competing arguments over the earlier decision not to prosecute him for rape. The court has not yet ruled on whether the proposed prosecution can proceed.

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Clair’s lawyer, Thomas Ross KC, argued that prosecutors had been wrong to drop the case because of insufficient evidence. He told Lord Pentland, Lord Matthews and Lady Carmichael that there had been enough evidence to pursue a prosecution with a reasonable prospect of conviction. Ross characterised the original decision as irrational, while acknowledging that a prosecution service handling large numbers of reports would inevitably make errors.

The Crown disputed that account. Alan Cameron KC told the court that prosecutors had been entitled to decide against bringing Goodwillie to trial after considering the available evidence. He argued that the exceptional circumstances needed to authorise a private prosecution were absent. According to the BBC, the hearing was told that Clair’s lawyers faced a high legal threshold: showing that the original decision was one no reasonable prosecutor could have made.

The application follows a separate civil judgment in 2017. Lord Armstrong ruled at the Court of Session that Goodwillie and his former Dundee United teammate David Robertson had raped Clair at a flat in Armadale, West Lothian, in January 2011. Both men had denied the allegations. The civil court ordered them to pay £100,000 in damages. That ruling was not a criminal conviction; Clair is now seeking permission to pursue criminal proceedings against Goodwillie.

Goodwillie’s lawyer, Lord Stewart of Dirleton KC, argued that the requirements for a private prosecution had not been met. He also challenged the fairness of using evidence Goodwillie gave during the civil proceedings, arguing that it had been given after the Lord Advocate renounced the right to prosecute. The admissibility of that evidence was therefore among the issues raised during the hearing.

Goodwillie made three appearances for Scotland and played for clubs including Dundee United, Blackburn Rovers and Clyde. His move to Raith Rovers in 2022 prompted resignations and the withdrawal of sponsorship by author Val McDermid. At the close of the latest hearing, Lord Pentland said the judges would consider all the submissions before issuing their judgment. No date for that decision was specified in the BBC report.