Soldier cleared of rape of girl

The offences are alleged to have taken place in Green Park

A soldier has been cleared of raping a girl in a central London park.

Adam Bray, 21, was found not guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court of two counts of raping the 17-year-old.

David Wright, 25, was found not guilty on one charge of raping the girl last September. But the jury failed to reach a verdict on two further counts.

The pair, from the Household Cavalry, which guards the royal family, had claimed the girl consented to sex with them in Green Park.

A hearing will take place later this month to decide if there is to be a retrial for the two outstanding counts of rape against Mr Wright.

The incident took place after the pair had drunk a number of pints during a "merry" Friday night in London's Soho, the court heard.

You know what you did that night was disgraceful Judge John Price

The pair met the teenager and her older sister outside a Soho bar in the early hours. The soldiers described kissing the pair before the oldest said she had to go.

The girl claimed that Mr Bray and Mr Wright held her down and ignored her obvious discomfort during the ordeal that left her bruised and bleeding and with extensive injuries.

But when she was asked, during her evidence, if she had "ever used the word stop", she accepted she had not.

Dismissing Mr Bray, judge John Price said: "You know what you did that night was disgraceful."

A case management hearing is to take place later this month to decide if a retrial should go ahead.