Man cleared of rape charge

Court: Jury deliberations last less than two days

A man accused of raping a teenage school girl in a city park has been found not guilty of all charges against him by a crown court jury. Liam Holroyd- McCluskey( 26) of Ash Court, Bretton, was charged with three counts of raping the girl in a Peterborough park in the middle of the night.

However, after less than two days of deliberations at Peterborough Crown Court, the jury returned not guilty verdicts on the three counts.

Mr Holroyd- McCluskey had also faced three charges of sexual activity with a child, which were alternative charges to the rape allegations.

But the jury also cleared him of any wrong doing.

Mr Holroyd- McCluskey had strenuously denied all the charges throughout the proceedings.

During the two week trial, the court had heard from the girl making the allegations, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who said she was very drunk on the night in question.

She alleged Mr Holroyd McCluskey had met up with her and her friends, and gone to a city park that night, where they would drink.

She claimed Mr Holroyd-McCluskey had forced her to carry out a sex act on him, before having sex with her without her consent on the grass in the park, threatening the girl’s friends.

However, giving evidence to the jury at the end of the trial, Mr Holroyd- McCluskey said the teenager had been flirting with him, and he had rejected her advances.

He said he had to help her keep on her feet, as she was stumbling because she was drunk.

He told the jury that he had gone home at about 1am, shortly after the girl had been sick in the park.

Mr Holroyd- McCluskey added he thought the allegations had been made up against him because the complainant owed him £ 60 after he sold her cannabis.