University Challenge student is cleared of rape
A FORMER contestant on University Challenge broke down in tears yesterday as he was cleared of raping a student at York University.
Bartholomeo Joly de Lotbiniere, 22, was found not guilty of rape and assault by penetration following a 17-month ordeal culminating in a retrial at Bradford Crown Court.
The defendant, who was studying at York during the time of the incident before moving to London last year to join UCL, wiped away tears with a handkerchief as he was cleared of the charges. His family, who have been present throughout the trial, also shouted out in relief as the verdict was delivered.
Mr Joly de Lotbiniere, a historian who appeared on the popular television quiz show in 2015, had been forced to endure a second trial after a jury failed to reach a verdict in February.
He was charged with rape in May 2016.
During his trial, he told the court that the incident, which took place at York University in 2014, had been a consensual sexual encounter with a fellow student. However, he added that it had been embarrassing due to his failure to perform. The woman, now 22, only reported Mr Joly de Lotbiniere when she saw him on the television programme the following year.
She claimed that she had seen a tweet by the television personality Richard Osman about the defendant’s long-winded name and had become
“angry and upset”.
The jury heard during the five day trial how the woman had alleged that Mr Joly de Lotbienere had sex with her in her bedroom without consent following a night out in York to celebrate the end of the academic year.
Mr Joly de Lotbiniere, who attended the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, a top Catholic comprehensive in Holland Park, denied raping the woman and told police during an interview that her allegations were “horrible, horrible lies”.
He told the court how he and the woman had been part of a group that had been socialising in the city and had returned home to her hall of residence in the early hours, where they began kissing.
Mr Joly de Lotbiniere added that when they began having sex, he struggled to get an erection and the pair had then made a mutual agreement to stop.
“There was no point going any further. We both just agreed to stop. I think she said ‘let’s just stop’,” he continued.
He said that he had tried to portray himself to the woman as someone confident with holding a one-night stand, when in fact he was inexperienced and uncomfortable with the fling.
He denied that the woman had ever tried to push him off or show any signs of distress, but added that he had left her halls feeling embarrassed and later sent her a text saying he had done a “very stupid thing”.
The jury of seven women and five men took six hours to find him not guilty.
Following the verdict, Mr Joly de Lotbiniere hugged his family in the public gallery before making his exit from the courtroom.