5th Feb 2015

A former Leeds United football player represented by Abbey Solicitors has been acquitted of rape charges against him.

The footballer and another man were cleared of three charges of rape related to an alleged incident that took place in August 2012 and the Etap Hotel in Leeds.

After a four-week trial, the jury, comprised of seven men and five women, reached a not-guilty verdict at Doncaster Crown Court.

The football player has now stated that he is ‘happy with the verdict and that the truth has come out’. He is now hoping to resume his football career and get back to normal. Now a player for Harrogate Town, the man gave evidence at the trial, telling the court that the allegations and proceedings that followed the incident cost him his contract with Leeds United.

The case involved the footballer and another man, who met for the first time on the night of the alleged incident, August 28, in a bar in Leeds. The woman testifying against the two men already knew Abbey Solicitors’ client, and agreed to go back to the hotel.

The two men admitted to having sex with her but claimed that she was willing and that it was consensual. The jury was shown footage of her naked in bed as well as intimate photographs, and friends say they were concerned for her safety as she was’very drunk’. The footballer says that they started to have sex, but realised she was too drunk and said no.

The defendants were also found not guilty of perverting the course of justice, with the other man pleading guilty to one offense of sexual assault in the case.