After 13 years of fighting for justice, a campaigner who says she was sexually assaulted following a night out is ‘finally free to speak the truth’.

Nina Cresswell initially reported the alleged attack in 2010 but her complaint was not registered as a crime and the investigation was closed after Northumbria Police officers interviewed her - while she was still drunk.

But she took the brave step to name the man she accused of sexually attacking when the #metoo movement started a decade later.

The 33-year-old, from County Durham, claimed a tattoo artist had attacked her following a night out in Sunderland and published them on her social media platforms.

Read next: Man battered around head with bottle trying to prevent fatal attack, court hears

However, William Hay reported her Facebook posts to police and sued her for libel, saying her allegations were false and completely denied sexually assaulting Ms Cresswell.

He said the “publications” caused him “great embarrassment, distress and damage to his reputation” and wanted damages.

However, in a landmark ruling today (Wednesday, April 26), a High Court judge found in favour of her version of events saying her "imputation was substantially true".

The Northern Echo: Nina CresswellNina Cresswell (Image: Good Law Project)

After winning the £70,000 libel trial, she said: “I am hugely relieved and delighted at the judgment and I can’t believe that I am finally free to speak the truth about the man who attacked me.

“My only motivation throughout has been to protect other women from risk, and I am confident this judgment will help others to do the same.”

Lawyers for Ms Cresswell had told the High Court that the then 20-year-old student was celebrating the end of her second year of university when she was seriously sexually assaulted.

She reported the attack to Northumbria Police but no charges were laid following an investigation.

In conclusion, The Honourable Mrs Justice Heather Williams DBE wrote: “Whilst I consider that there is a degree of exaggeration in the defendant’s account in particular in relation to her dealings with the police in the aftermath of the incident, I am satisfied that she has established on a balance of probabilities that she was subjected to a violent sexual assault by the claimant in the early hours of May 28, 2010.”

She said the “statutory defence of truth” had been “established”.

Mrs Justice Williams heard that Ms Cresswell had: published a blog; sent a Facebook message, and email, to Mr Hay’s girlfriend and business partner; published two Facebook posts; and published a post on Instagram.

“The defendant says that her primary intention in publishing these materials was to alert women who could otherwise become victims of sexual assault at the hands of the claimant, in particular in the context of his work as a tattooist,” said the judge.

Mr Hay, a Glasgow-based tattoo artist, has always denied sexually assaulting Ms Cresswell.

Mr Justice Williams said: “The claimant does not admit that the defendant was sexually assaulted on her way home from the nightclub and he maintains that if such an assault occurred, he was not the perpetrator and the defendant’s allegation in this regard is a deliberate fabrication on her part.”

She said Northumbria Police officers had decided not to treat Ms Cresswell’s complaint of sexual assault as a crime.

Mrs Justice Williams said she regarded some of the evidence she heard as being “of particular significance”.

She said: “The officers also placed too much weight on CCTV footage from (a bar), failed to undertake the fuller investigation that was warranted and prematurely assessed and rejected her credibility, deciding not to treat the defendant’s allegation as a crime within hours of her first report to police.”

Emma Dearnaley, Good Law Project Legal Director, said the ruling was ground-breaking for victims of sexual violence and having their voices heard.

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She said: “The case establishes that a public interest defence can be available to women who are sued for libel. Where they are unable to overcome the burden of proving they were sexually assaulted they can still have a defence if they believe there is a public interest in speaking out.

“We are very proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder with Nina. Women should not be silenced for speaking out against violence.”

Speaking after the ruling, a spokesperson for Northumbria Police said: “Having had no involvement in these proceedings, we are now aware of the judgment which was issued today (Wednesday).

“We will need to carefully consider its contents and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this stage.”