A RUNCORN man has been acquitted by a jury of raping a teenage girl.
Matthew Smith, 26, of The Glen in Palacefields, has been found not guilty of rape by a jury at Warrington Crown Court, a court spokesman told the Weekly News.
The trial started on Monday, January 11, was being presided over by Judge Nicholas Woodward and the verdict was returned today by a jury of six men and six women.
The incident was alleged to have taken place in the early hours of the morning of Sunday, July 19, at the Pulse Bar in Widnes, where Smith was working as the manager.
The prosecution had alleged during the trial that Smith had raped a 17-year-old girl – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – in an office at the nightclub.
Prosecutor Simon Mills had said on Monday that the defendant’s case was that he and the teenager did have sexual intercourse at the venue on Victoria Street, but that it was with her consent and at her ‘instigation’ after he had given her back her mobile phone, which she had earlier lost in the club.
The defendant had denied the charge.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/