Have you heard of Lindsay Armstrong?

Lindsay Armstrong, who was 16 at the time was sexually assaulted in Ayrshire in September 2001.

On the first day of the trial in June, the Armstrong’s arrived at court to see the accused standing outside.  “He was the first person she saw when we arrived.” said Lindsay’s mother, Linda.  “We were witnesses so we were in this little room but he had the run of the building.”

After a lengthy, relentless, and brutal cross-examination by the attorney, the rapist himself, who was 14 at the time so for legal reasons his name was never released, was allowed to cross-examine Lindsay- the laws in Scotland at the time actually allowed rapists to cross-examine their victims!  When the defence attorney continued his ruthless cross-examination of Lindsay, she was asked to hold up the underwear she had wore at the time of the attack.  This was supposedly to allow the defence to argue that the underwear had not been damaged, Lindsay was asked to tell the court what was written on them: the words “Little Devil”.

Putting Lindsay through this public humiliation served no purpose other than to allow the defence to try to smear her reputation – it allowed them to suggest that her underwear and the motto they bore were enough the demonstrate that Lindsay was the “sort of girl” unlikely to refuse consent to sex and therefore unlikely to have been assaulted.

Lindsay had been prescribed anti-depressants to help her get through the trial.  Just three weeks later, at 2am on July 16th, Lindsay’s parents found her dead in her room.  She had put on her favourite CD and taken an overdose of the tablets.  She was 17. “It was Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody that was playing when we found her.”

The boy who raped Lindsay was sentenced to four years detention. He was put under supervision for a further three years and placed on the sex offenders’ register.  Lindsay however couldn’t take it anymore and tragically took her life due to the horrific situation.

“We were hoping and praying that this animal would at least spare her the ordeal of giving evidence,” said Frank (Lindsay’s father) “but it didn’t happen and she ended up being torn to shreds by his defense lawyer after spending all day on the stand.  They basically said she deserve to be raped.  And that’s how she felt at the end of the day.”