Ex-St Andrews student Miss M hails decision to end ‘not proven’ verdict

The Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill will sweep away the often contentious verdict and establish a specialist sexual offences court with national jurisdiction - and grant victims an automatic lifelong right of anonymity.

It comes after many campaigns, including a five-year fight by the former student, known as Miss M. She was attacked on a night out in 2013, and, after a jury in the criminal case returned a not proven verdict she successfully sued him in the civil courts. Since then, she has campaigned with Rape Crisis Scotland for the abolition of the country’s controversial ‘third verdict’ - one dubbed the “bastard verdict” by Sir Walter Scott in the 1820s.

Speaking in an exclusive interview for the University of St Andrews’ Scotland’s Future podcast series, ‘Miss M’ said: “I felt like I had no voice after I was raped. I was traumatised and put all my hope in the criminal justice system. I felt powerless and the criminal trial compounded my trauma. The verdict came back as not proven and it left me confused and frustrated that a decision wasn’t made - guilty or not guilty. In many ways, not proven was worse than not guilty.”She welcomed news that the verdict was set to be removed..

“I campaigned alongside Rape Crisis Scotland to end the use of the not proven verdict,” she said. “I’m glad that after five years of campaigning and all the research the Scottish Government has undertaken into jury trials, they’ve announced plans to abolish the not proven verdict. It’s fantastic news and shows victims that their voices are heard.

“A not proven verdict doesn’t comfort us and the research shows the verdict is misunderstood and used disproportionately in rape cases. We want a jury to reach a decision which gives us some form of closure.”

She also paid tribute to Rape Crisis Scotland, Scottish Women’s Rights Centre and the University of St Andrews for their support over the years, adding: “I have gone from being a young student trying to navigate the criminal justice system to working and supporting other rape victims today.”

The new Bill, which was first proposed last September by former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, will see the three-verdict model scrapped in all criminal trials to “create a clearer, fairer and more transparent decision-making process.”

The interview is available on the University’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfz-llYndno