Prince Andrew in 'last-ditch bid' to have civil rape case thrown out as accuser to refuse settlement

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Desperate Prince Andrew was last night plotting a last-ditch bid to have the civil rape case against him thrown out as it was claimed his accuser will refuse any offer of an out of court settlement.

Virginia Giuffre, who alleges she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17, is said to want a trial to send a message that anyone “with power and privilege” accused of abusing young girls will face justice.

New York judge Lewis Kaplan’s decision on whether the Duke will face a full civil trial is expected soon. He has already decided there is no case to answer on the “domicile argument” over Giuffre’s residency in Australia but a source has told the Mirror that Andrew’s legal team “are not taking this lying down”.His lawyers believe they have found a new angle to stop Giuffre’s case, as federal law explicitly bans two parties who are not US residents facing each other in court.The source said: “They believe they have a genuine argument to get this thrown out.“If they can prove under federal law where Giuffre has filed her case, that there is precedent not to bring a case where both parties are not US residents, then it should be halted immediately.”Giuffre, who claims she was trafficked by billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell, and forced to have sex with the Duke on three occasions in 2001, has lived in Australia since 2002.Our source said: “Even if the judge rules that there is a case for a full trial, there is a long way to go.”The Duke’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, said Giuffre was living in a £1million home in Perth, Australia, when she filed her lawsuit and had spent less than two years in the US since moving to Australia in 2002.The claimant’s team has a deadline of