A BARRY man accused of raping and assaulting a woman after a night out has been cleared of all charges.

The jury took just one hour of deliberation to find Richard Manley, 26, of Merthyr Street, Barry not guilty of two charges against a woman who accused him of raping and attacking her after a night out.

Mr Manley had told the court during his evidence that the accusation was made out of spite and jealousy due to him spurning the woman's advances in favour of a relationship with someone else.

During the two week trial at Cardiff Crown Court, the woman had given evidence claiming she had been drinking in the same pub as Mr Manley on a night in May before meeting him a house party where he became aggressive.

Fleeing to her home, she claimed Mr Manley turned up shortly afterwards where he punched her, bit her and raped her.

Mr Manley told the court that this was a "complete lie" made by an "evil, twisted and deceitful" person who had a grudge against him.

Mr Manley explained that, in fact, it had been the woman who had been trying to start a fight with him at a town pub before causing trouble at a house party.

Becoming aggressive and upset due to having her advances spurned, the woman stormed off. Concerned about her wellbeing due to her agitated state - she had been drinking heavily and also using cocaine - Mr Manley followed and while trying to calm the woman down in the street turned down another advance which upset the woman further.

Fearing for her safety after she ran off again, he followed and when at her house she attacked him and called the police, saying "I'm going to get you arrested".

A police officer who attended the call told the court that when they arrived the woman had said "I hate the police, I wish I hadn't called you now."

The next day the woman went to Barry police station to apologise for her outburst and made an allegation that Mr Manley had attacked and raped her the previous night. She also had marks on her face that police officers testified had not been there when they attended.

Mr Manley also told police that he had received messages from the woman following the accusation saying "Ha ha, you're going to jail."

After just over one hour of deliberation today (Thursday, November 12) the trial jury found Mr Manley not guilty of both charges.