A woman who is suing the man she claims raped her for £100,000 in a landmark legal action wept in court as she recalled the alleged attack.

The female, who can only be identified as Miss M, said she was sexually assaulted after returning from a night out to her home in St Andrews, Fife, in September 2013.

She told Edinburgh Sheriff Court how she had spent the evening drinking at a student party before going on to a nightclub.

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Miss M, now 23, told the court that during the evening she drank four cans of cider, a bottle of rose wine, a bottle of champagne and three glasses of sparkling wine which were mixed with vodka.

She told Sheriff Robert Weir, QC, that she awoke in her bed to find a man she didn’t know having sex with her.

She said the man still continued to have sex with her when she was crying.

Miss M also told the court that the man forced her to perform a sex act on him and that he only stopped when he noticed blood on the woman’s bed.

She said: “I was lying on my bed when I came round. I sort of was aware what going on from the off in the sense that I didn’t have any clothes on. I was upset.

“Within a second I realised there was somebody on top of me. I suppose that person was having sex with me.

“I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t shout out. I couldn’t say anything.

“The person was naked as well. I felt sick. I was lying down on my back. I found it difficult to breathe.”

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Miss M was giving evidence on the first day of an action which she has brought to court against Stephen Coxen, 23, from Bury, Lancashire.

She has taken Mr Coxen to court to seek damages from him as a consequence of what happened in the High Court two years ago.

Mr Coxen stood trial on charges of raping the woman but walked free after jurors in the case returned a not proven verdict.

In a legal first after an unsuccessful rape prosecution in Scotland, the woman has mounted an action through the civil courts seeking just under £100,000 in damages and financial losses.

Miss M accuses Coxen of raping her and injuring her tongue and has been granted funding by the Scottish Legal Aid Board.

Yesterday, Miss M told the court how the attack happened while she was studying at St Andrews University.

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During Freshers Week 2013, the woman said she attended a party at a friend’s flat. While at the get-together, the woman said she consumed various alcoholic drinks.

The woman told the court she left the party and was in the students union before going onto a nightclub called the Lizard Lounge.

The woman said she had problems recollecting what happened after but the next thing she could remember was being outside her house.

Then the next thing she remembers was that a man was having sex with her.

Mr Coxen contests the action.

The hearing continues.