Man acquitted in rugby trial graduates from US university

BLANE McIlroy, who was cleared of exposure after a high-profile rape trial involving two former Ulster Rugby stars earlier this year, has graduated from university in the United States.

The Belfast man, who was acquitted of exposure in March at the end of a controversial nineweek trial, posted a picture of his graduation certificate on his Instagram page.

It reveals that he has graduated ‘magna cum laude’, or with great honour, as a Bachelor of Business Administration from Life University, a private institution in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, Georgia.

Underneath the picture, Mr McIlroy said “he did it the hard way but got there in the end”.

During the trial, a lawyer acting for Mr McIlroy revealed his client had been one semester short of completing his degree when he was arrested in June 2016.

Graduate: Blane McIlroy

He described the case as a “tragedy” for everyone involved.

The trial saw Ulster and Ireland players Stuart Olding and Paddy Jackson unanimously acquitted of raping a woman at a party in Mr Jackson’s house after a night out in Belfast in June 2016. Mr McIlroy had been accused of walking into the bedroom

completely naked during the alleged attack but was also cleared of any wrongdoing.

A co-accused, Rory Harrison, was cleared of charges of perverting the course of justice and withholding information in relation to the case.

Amid growing concern from Ulster Rugby’s corporate spon-

sors about reputational damage, Mr Jackson and Mr Olding were sacked by their club and told they would not play for the Irish national side in future. They have since signed with French clubs.

The case sparked an independent review into how the criminal justice system here deals with serious sexual offence allegations.