Court of Session awards £70,000 to woman abused by her uncle A woman has been awarded £70,000 in damages against a former police officer whose conviction for abusing her was quashed on appeal. A judge at the Court of Session found that the 45-year-old victim had been subjected to sexual abuse by her uncle from the age of seven. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for eight years in 2003 for abusing her. But the conviction was later overturned when judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled there had been a miscarriage of justice. The woman then launched a £250,000 compensation through the civil courts, where the standard of proof is lower. Her uncle denied liability and claimed the case was time-barred. But Lord Kinclaven said he was satisfied that the woman, named as EA, had suffered as a result of the man's "unlawful sexual actings towards her." The judge said: "The sexual conduct started in the bedroom occupied by her and her sisters when she was aged 7 or 8." He added: "He told her not to tell anyone. He said that she would like it and that he would make her happy and he promised her sweets and a can of Coke. As the girl grew older the abuse went from inappropriate touching to sexual intercourse, Lord Kinclaven said. The judge described her uncle as arrogant and "unconvincing" when he gave evidence in court. "I accept the evidence of the pursuer as to the sexual acts carried out by the defender against her when she was a child," Lord Kinclaven wrote in his judgment. He added that the victim was not required to prove her case beyond reasonable doubt, as in a criminal trial, but she had to convince the court on the balance of probabilities that the abuse had happened. He said he also accepted her evidence that she had found it stressful having to give evidence in the High Court twice after a retrial was ordered in the case. Lord Kinclaven rejected testimony from the man, who strongly denied the allegations against him, as neither credible nor reliable. He had denied taking part in any improper conduct with her, claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by the woman, and repeatedly said: "It never happened." The judge said: "There was a certain arrogance about the defender when he gave his evidence. I found his answers unconvincing. Lawyers for the woman, who was awarded criminal injuries compensation of £17,500, said in the action: "The pursuer achieved some comfort for her past trauma from seeing the defender convicted. The allowance of the defender's appeal has undermined that comfort. It would assist her in coping with the effects of sexual abuse to see her allegations vindicated in court. The woman was awarded £60,000 for past pain and suffering and a further £10,000 in recognition of future pain and injured feelings. Lord Kinclaven said: "The pursuer [EA] suffered and will continue to suffer the trauma of having to live with the memory and effects of that conduct inflicted while she was a child. She suffered pain and anguish caused as a result of disclosing that conduct to others. The pursuer felt as if her whole life had fallen apart. She was a wreck. She was nervous. She was scared, She had difficulty sleeping. It was like 'a volcano that had just went off'.