Rape survivor's £3,000 bill for lawyer complaint

Former politics student Ellie Wilson said she faced personal attacks by a defence lawyer

A woman who says she was traumatised by her rapist's defence lawyer is facing a £3,000 charge to bolster her complaint against him.

Ellie Wilson, 25, said she was subjected to personal attacks by advocate Lorenzo Alonzi in court and felt blamed for being assaulted.

She believes costs are a barrier to justice for other victims of crime.

Daniel McFarlane was convicted of two rape charges and attempting to defeat the ends of justice in June.

He received a lesser sentence due to his age following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

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A former politics student, Ms Wilson said she felt "humiliated, degraded and bullied" by Mr Alonzi during cross-examination.

"When I was in court I felt I was being made the subject of constant personal attacks," she said. "I felt like I was being blamed for what happened to me.

"It was really difficult - I felt like I was being abused all over again and I found myself actually doubting whether I was doing the right thing by taking legal action against my abuser."

The BBC has approached Mr Alonzi for comment.

'Huge financial barrier'

Ms Wilson said she lodged a complaint about Mr Alonzi to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission and was asked to provide evidence for her claims.

Although this is not mandatory, a court transcript would provide a verbatim account of what the lawyer said.

Ms Wilson said the court quoted £100 per hour of transcript or £3,000 for the whole case.

"I was in shock," she said. "I needed these transcripts to prove what I was saying. I don't just want them for some fun or to hand the to my friends and family.

"This is also data about me - I see it as being my data to an extent. The fact that there is this huge financial barrier, it's really really concerning."

Neil Stevenson, chief executive of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission said, "We cannot comment on any individual case.

"However, in considering any complaint, we need to explore all options to source available evidence that might help us to understand the circumstances of the issues raised."

During the trial, the court heard that McFarlane had told a friend that he had done "despicable" things - but later claimed these were "false admissions".

He was jailed for five years and placed on the sex offenders register for the attacks which took place between December 2017 and February 2018.

Mr Alonzi told the court: "He had a perfect life in front of him and he now has a High Court conviction and is on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life."

Ms Wilson said she had since spoken to other survivors of sexual violence and found that being re-traumatised in court was a common experience.

She added: "I think that all too often we accept bad and inappropriate behaviour from defence lawyers because we think that's just the way it is - when it's not.

"I think it's important to speak out on this because there's another huge barrier to justice for survivors.

"In fact, it's a problem for any democratic society - if justice and accountability is only for those who can afford it, that's not something we'd expect. It's not something we should tolerate."

Call for reform

There have been a number of calls for the Scottish government to improve the court experience for victims of rape and sexual assault.

Earlier this month Justice Secretary Keith Brown was urged to address the issue in upcoming criminal justice reform in a letter from MSP Audrey Nicoll.

Ms Nicoll, convener of the justice committee, told the minister that representatives from victim support organisations including Scottish Women's Aid and Rape Crisis Scotland believed that changes to the law were required.

A Scottish government spokesperson said: "The Scottish government has every sympathy for the individual in this case and recognises that the justice system can be distressing and re-traumatising for those who encounter it.

"As the Justice Secretary outlined to the Convener of the Criminal Justice Committee, we are committed to working with justice agencies in improving victims' experiences wherever possible and this includes consideration with Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service of the question of charges for transcripts to victims of rape and other sexual offences."