Teen cleared of sex offences (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Teen cleared of sex offences

11:37am Monday 28th January 2013 in News

A TEENAGER has been cleared of sex offences allegedly committed after a night out drinking at an Abberley pub.

Matthew Todhunter was found not guilty by unanimous verdicts on three charges of sexual assault and one of attempted rape.

Todhunter, 18, formerly of Abberley and now living in Heath Hayes, Cannock, West Midlands, was alleged to have assaulted a woman in the smoking area outside The Manor pub in Abberley.

Prosecutor Paul Whitfield alleged that Todhunter had put his hand down a woman's trousers and up her top. A young girl also claimed that he put his hand inside her bra on the same night after jumping on her back.

But Todhunter told the court that he was never alone with the woman on the night of March 3 last year. He denied that he had deliberately followed her when she went outside the pub for a cigarette.

He had walked across a field in the dark with a young woman but denied jumping on her for a piggy back or putting his hand inside her bra.

Judge John Maxwell told the jury of seven women and five men that the evidence had substantial contradictions. The defence case was that none of the alleged offences ever happened. He awarded Todhunter £100 travelling costs.