Denise Clair, who waived her right to anonymity, has been awarded £100,000 after a judge ruled she was raped by two footballers

Two professional footballers raped a mother-of-one in in her flat when she was too drunk to consent to sex, a judge has ruled.

Despite never facing a criminal trial, ex-Scotland footballer David Goodwillie and his former Dundee United colleague David Robertson were today found to have raped Denise Clair at a flat in Armadale, West Lothian, in 2011.

Ms Clair, who waived her right to anonymity, sued the duo after prosecutors decided not to pursue the case through the criminal courts.

Today, during a civil action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, a judge said the 30-year-old had been 'incapable' of giving consent, meaning the two men had raped her.

Making his ruling - and ordering the men to pay her £100,000 compensation - Lord Armstrong said Ms Clair's evidence had been 'cogent, persuasive and compelling'.

But he criticised the footballers for their evidence, suggesting Goodwillie had lied on oath to 'protect his own interests'.

He said: 'I find that, in the early hours of Sunday January 2, 2011, both defenders took advantage of the pursuer when she was vulnerable through an excessive intake of alcohol and because her cognitive functioning and decision making processes were so impaired, she was incapable of giving meaningful consent; and that they each raped her.'

Lord Armstrong also ordered the pair to pay Ms Clair - who had initially sued the footballers for £500,000 - compensation of £100,000.

David Goodwillie (left) and David Robertson (right), pictured at Edinburgh Court in November last year, raped the woman when she was too drunk to consent, a judge said

During the hearing, the court was told how Goodwillie, 27, and Robertson had always claimed that intercourse had been consensual.

But Ms Clair insisted she was incapable of consenting to sex because she was so drunk.

Making his ruling today, the judge said he could be sure whether Goodwillie or Robertson truly believed Ms Clair was consenting.

He also rejected the players' evidence which claimed the woman was not particularly affected by alcohol and was no more drunk than anyone else that night.

Lord Armstrong said there was evidence that Ms Clair and Robertson were flirting earlier in the evening, but he added: 'The mere fact of sexual attraction does not preclude rape.'

Describing Goodwillie's behaviour, the judge said: 'The first defender was not an impressive witness.

Lord Armstrong ordered Goodwillie and Robertson to pay damages of £100,000. He said their evidence had not been reliable, but Ms Clair's had been 'persuasive and compelling'

'Particularly in relation to his assessment of the pursuer's condition, his evidence was given with a view to his own interests rather than in accordance with the oath which he had taken.

'I did not find his evidence to be persuasive.'

Referring to Robertson, he added: 'Like the first defender, I assessed the second defender as a witness who was being selective as to what he was prepared to tell the court and whose evidence, directed as it was entirely to his own interests, was partial and partisan.

HOW A COURT FOUND AGAINST PLAYERS David Goodwillie and David Robertson did not face a criminal trial over the alleged rape after prosecutors of Scotland’s Crown Office decided not to charge them. However, the victim then pursued a civil case against the pair and the judge in the case found that they did rape the woman after hearing evidence from all three. In criminal cases, the standard of proof is beyond reasonable doubt, however in civil cases such as these the burden of proof is less - on the balance of probabilities. It means the pair have not been found guilty of rape but responsible for it and liable for damages. They will not receive a criminal record. Advertisement

'He did not present as a witness who was being entirely candid.

;On the significant issues arising in the case, I did not find his evidence to be credible or reliable.'

The court was told how, before the rape took place, Ms Clair had enjoyed her life.

But she described in evidence how her life had changed in July when prosecutors decided not to pursue criminal proceedings.

She was told by Crown Office in July that year that they were not going ahead with criminal proceedings.

Lord Armstrong said: 'She found that decision difficult to understand and had felt that she had not been believed.

'She felt that her life had been destroyed by something which had happened although, because of her lack of memory, she was not fully aware of what it was that had caused that effect,' he said.

She had experienced suicidal thoughts and it was only last year that she felt comfortable forming an intimate relationship again.

Lord Armstrong said: 'She maintained emphatically that she would never voluntarily have had sexual intercourse with two men simultaneously, and that she had never ever done that before. As she put it, she would never ever agree to do that.'

The judge said the Ms Clair's memory loss was best explained by 'the phenomenon of alcoholic blackout'.

He said that on the basis of expert evidence, eyewitness testimony and forensic findings of Ms Clair's blood alcohol level he held that during the period Ms Clair was in the flat she 'lacked the level of cognitive functioning necessary to make reasoned decisions and consequently lacked the ability to give meaningful consent by free agreement'.

Goodwillie in action for Plymouth last year - he has played 22 times for them this season

It was only in the weeks after the rape that the Ms Clair knew with certainty that intercourse had taken place after DNA evidence was obtained from swabs taken from her.

Ms Clair told the court that she had given a statement to the Crown in May 2011 and said: 'It was set to go to court.'

But she was later informed there was to be no prosecution. She told the court: 'I kind of felt like they didn't believe me, but I was really quite confused, upset... I was actually devastated.'

During her evidence, which was given in a court closed to the public like a rape trial in the High Court, Ms Clair said she was later awarded criminal injuries compensation.

She said she had gone out for the evening for a drink with a friend on New Year's Day in 2011 but had no recollection of leaving a pub for a nightclub in Bathgate.

Goodwillie (No 7 on his shorts) training with the rest of the Plymouth squad earlier this month

She remembered waking the next morning in strange surroundings and said: 'I seemed to be running about the house in a panic. I ran into every single room to see if I could make sense of my surroundings.'

She said that she was in pain after the incident.

Her counsel, Simon Di Rollo QC, asked her what she was wearing and she replied: 'Nothing. I was naked, but I didn't realise that until I was in the kitchen.'

She said: 'I just felt sore. I felt sore inside as if something had happened to me, but I couldn't say what it was. I felt a lot of pain inside.

'I kind of thought something must have happened to me but I had no idea what. I didn't know where I was,' she said.

Ms Clair said she found articles of her clothing in the flat 'stuffed down' the side of a bed. She added: 'My pants were never recovered.'

The court heard how, earlier that evening, Ms Clair had gone out with a friend to The James Young bar in Bathgate.

They then moved onto the Glenmavis Tavern, known as Smiths, where Robertson was.

She later went on to Chalmers nightclub but had no recollection of it and no memory of anything significant until the following morning.

Goodwillie had gone to join Robertson in Bathgate after the pair had played for Dundee United against Aberdeen on January 1. He maintained that he did not think Ms Clair was too drunk to consent to sex.

But a security firm employee working at the nightclub told the court that the Ms Clair was in need of an ambulance.

Gayle McGregor said: 'She wasn't in control of herself. Her eyes were rolling in her head. She couldn't stand up straight. She couldn't speak to me properly. She wasn't compos mentis.'

In the action it was said the players offered her a lift home in a taxi, but the driver was requested to drop all three at the flat in Armadale.