Scottish tourist raped by hotel worker in island paradise wins her quest for justice

The woman was on holiday with her husband in July 2010 at the Club Bentota Hotel on Paradise Island for a 15-night all inclusive holiday.

The couple booked the holiday through package tour operator Kuoni.

In the early hours of July 17 the woman, from Glasgow, was walking through the grounds of the resort.

An electrician wearing maintenance worker uniform offered to show her a shortcut to reception - but lured her into an engineering room where he raped and attacked her.

She suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of the horror assault.

The victim's legal team argued package tour operator Kuoni was liable as the man was guiding her within the resort as part of the service provided under the package holiday contract.

The Supreme Court - the highest court in the UK - has now ruled Kuoni is liable to pay her compensation under the terms of the contract that the woman entered into when she booked the holiday.

It ruled the obligations of tour operators are not just services such as accommodation, meals and transport but also a duty to ensure safety and customers should be able to enjoy a holiday to a "reasonable standard."

But despite the victory the woman told how she felt she had been "put on trial".

She said she believes victims of sexual assault are routinely subjected to character assassinations, and her mental health was repeatedly questioned.

The woman said: "Today's decision is a huge relief for me and my family, and we are hugely grateful to our legal team for supporting us over the past 11 years.

"This case was always about trying to force Kuoni to take account of its failings to protect and support me both before and after the incident.

"Unfortunately, rather than take note and review its approach to my experience, Kuoni decided to double down and effectively put me on trial in an open court.”

The woman instructed Irwin Mitchell's specialist International Serious Injury team to launch a legal case against Kuoni through which she and her husband booked their holiday.

James Riley, the specialist international serious injury solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, representing the woman, said after the hearing: "The horrifying ordeal that our client went through and the impact that it has had, not only on her but her family can't be underestimated.

"While nothing can ever make up for what has happened we welcome this definitive judgment."

During legal proceedings the High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled in Kuoni's favour.

However, in July 2019 the Supreme Court handed down a preliminary judgment. It asked the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg to clarify the law on several further issues in the case as it has been pursued on the basis of regulations that originated from an EU Directive.

Earlier this year the CJEU ruled that, in view of the objective of ensuring a high level of consumer protection, a broad approach should be adopted when seeking to identify the scope of ancillary obligations undertaken under a package contract, irrespective of whether these obligations were to be performed by the package tour operator or by its suppliers of services.

The case was referred back to the Supreme Court for final judgment and Kuoni has been found liable.

A spokesman for Kuoni said: "This was a traumatic incident for the claimant and we remain extremely sympathetic to the impact it's had. After many years, we are pleased that the Supreme Court has provided clarity in a very complex case. We will now take time to consider the full verdict."