Lindsay told me her time in the court was worse than the rape. She was devastated. Don't put victims through that again

THE mum of a teenage rape victim who took her own life after she was forced to hold up her underwear in court has blasted a landmark ruling which could allow complainers to be questioned on their sexual history.

- BY JENNIFER HYLAND

Linda Armstrong's 17-year-old daughter died in July 2002 weeks after giving evidence against the 15-year-old who had raped her.

During the trial Lindsay, from New Cumnock in Ayrshire, was told to hold up the thong she was wearing the night she was attacked to the jury and was also forced to read the words "Little Devil" by lawyer Andy Aitken that had been written across the front.

The court case prompted calls for changes to the way rape victims are treated and since then, special measures have been introduced, including barrier screens being put up to protect witnesses and victims from the rest of the court.

But last week in a separate ruling, five Supreme Court judges said excluding evidence about a complainer's credibility or previous and subsequent sexual behaviour was "liable to result in violations of defendants' rights to a fair trial".

Now Linda has criticised any relaxation of so-called "rape shield laws" that would allow complainers to be quizzed on their clothing or sexual history which is currently almost always excluded from trials for sexual offences in Scotland.

Linda, now 62, said: "Lindsay had to hold up the underwear she was wearing three times and had to tell the court they said 'Little Devil' on the front. What they were trying to suggest was that she had been asking to be raped.

"She was being asked to defend her choice of clothing and underwear.

"She had also been wearing jeans, boots and a coat but it didn't matter what she was wearing, what it said on her underwear or even what colour it was. She didn't ask to be raped.