Man acquitted of raping woman in St Andrews on trial

A man who was acquitted of raping a woman in St Andrews is to go on trial in a civil case over the alleged incident.

St Salvator's Quad at St Andrews University

Stephen Coxen, from Bury in Lancashire, is being sued for £100,000 in damages by a woman he is accused to have raped in St Andrews in 2013.

Coxen denied the charges and in 2015 the case was found not proven, which in Scots law is an acquittal.

His alleged victim has launched a civil action which is being heard at the Personal Injury Court in Edinburgh.

The first hearing is due today.

Coxen is alleged to have raped the woman in St Andrews where she was a student at the university.

The woman, known as Miss M, has accused Coxen of raping her and injuring her tongue.

She has been granted funding to cover her costs by the Scottish Legal Aid Board.

The move follows a successful civil court action for rape last year against two Scottish footballers, David Goodwillie and David Robertson.

A woman called Denise Clair, who had waived her anonymity, alleged they raped her in a flat in West Lothian.

The Crown Office, which oversees prosecutions in Scotland, had chosen not to prosecute Clair’s attackers, but the judge in the civil court found the rapes had happened and in January 2017 awarded her £100,000 damages from the men.

They insisted she had consented to intercourse, but in November three judges threw out their appeal.