Court Case Lost Earnings Recompense

On the 26th of August 2017 I woke up in the accommodation I was renting at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival  to discover my friend in a state of distress. She told me that during the night a mutual acquaintance of ours had sexually assaulted her while she slept. 

I encouraged her to make a complaint to the police,  she spent the entire day giving evidence and after 10 long months of waiting the case finally went to court this week.  My friend was called to the witness stand and had to go through the ordeal of being questioned under oath about the incident in front of a room full of strangers and the accused. 

She did herself proud and showed bravery and dignity throughout the entire case but the jury came back with a verdict of "not proven" which is an acquittal  unique to Scottish law that Wikipedia describes as:

"Essentially, the jury is unconvinced that the suspect is innocent, but guilt has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt...they may be morally convinced that the accused is guilty, but do not find the proofs sufficient for a conviction"

This result has left my friend feeling "like a failure" but I am proud that she stood her ground and held the accused to account.

Because of the court case she has suffered emotional trauma and both her and her partner have lost earnings. As a self employed comedian she does not get paid leave and I don't feel that losing income is at all fair given the circumstances.  She had to relive a horrible incident and have her character and integrity assessed while searching for justice. 

I am setting up this fundraiser so that my friend can recoup lost earnings and have a well deserved and much needed holiday to help her move on with her life. 

Please give what you can and thank you for reading.

AJ x