Jurats find man, 47, not guilty of raping woman

Senior Jurat David Hodgetts said the court had found the defendant not guilty by a 7-2 majority.

Judge Russell Finch spent an hour summing up the case before the court retired to deliberate.

It was alleged that the offence took place at the man’s home in July last year. The complainant was part of a group that went back to his flat after they had all been drinking in Town.

The complainant told the court how she was very drunk. The allegation was one of anal rape and the defendant denied that any sexual activity had occurred at all.

He gave evidence in court, something that Judge Finch said he had not been compelled to do.

The man told the court how he had put the woman to bed.

He accepted getting into bed with her later but denied that she had been naked when she woke up, as the woman claimed.

The two had gone downstairs in the morning and continued drinking. He said they had cuddled up together on the sofa and that he had massaged her feet. No kissing had taken place.

When he woke up the woman had been in front of him and was apologising to him, saying she thought he had been her ex.

When the woman called a friend to get a lift home he had taken her to the gate. He said there was no reason for her false allegation and something had gone wrong in her mind. He found her a bit weird.

The court heard how some of the group had taken drugs at the flat – a small yellow tablet called a bean – and that the defendant and complainant had been a party to that.

The defendant denied not having clothes on when he woke up in bed next to the woman and an ex-girlfriend who gave evidence said he never slept naked. The man said he had been in a state of shock when he was arrested and that he had been under a lot of stress when interviewed.