Man is cleared of raping a teenage girl at a Herefordshire house party (From Hereford Times)

Man is cleared of raping a teenage girl at a Herefordshire house party

3:35pm Friday 10th February 2012 in County

A MAN has been cleared of raping a teenage girl following a house party in a Herefordshire village.

Charles Barber-Starkey, from Dormington, was found not guilty of the alleged late night attack, said to have taken place close to the entrance of a field in May 2010.

During the four day trial at Hereford Crown Court, the jury heard how Mr Barber-Starkey, then 18, had boasted to friends at the party that he had sex with the girl a short distance from the house. He later told police he lied because he was fed up at being labelled a virgin.

His barrister said the bravado he showed towards his friends that night was reminiscent of a scene from hit TV series The Inbetweeners, which follows a group of teenagers through sixth form.

“There is no way that is the reaction of someone who knew they might be in serious trouble,” said Jonathan Stanniland.

“He would not have come into the house saying that sort of thing if he had actually forced her to have sex with him.”

Mr Stanniland pointed to other holes in the alleged victim’s story including the amount of alcohol she drank that night, the five months it took for her to report the matter, and the ability of the defendant to remove her clothing with one hand while holding her down with the other.

He also highlighted the evidence of a friend of the girl who said the alleged victim questioned why she had slept with Mr Barber-Starkey, now 19, after being shown a photo of him on Facebook.

“Those are not the sort of words of someone who had been raped,” added Mr Stanniland.

The jury returned its not guilty verdict within an hour.