A north-east man has spoken of his relief after being acquitted of rape.
Jordan Frail had been on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of removing a woman’s clothes while she was asleep then proceeding to have sex with her and ignoring her pleas to stop after she woke up.
Giving evidence, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she had been “sound asleep” and told him “no I don’t want to.”
She also claimed she had a meeting with three friends after the incident in which she disclosed what had happened and they all told her “that counts as rape.”
Yesterday representing Frail, defence advocate Ronnie Rennuci QC made a no case to answer submission saying there was insufficient evidence for the case to go before the jury of eight men and seven women.
He claimed the case had to be corroborated and there was nothing to back up the account given by the woman.
But advocate depute Mark Maguire argued that one of the friends had claimed the woman had cried during their meeting which proved distress and backed up the claim that there had been no consent.
In reaching a decision Lord Uist upheld the submission.
He said that as the prosecution sought to rely on one witness who went against three others that it would “simply not do” and would “not afford corroboration.”
Frail, aged 20, cried with relief as he was acquitted and was told he was free to leave the dock.
He had faced further accusations of threatening the woman between June 2016 and July last year which involved calling her derogatory names and on one occasion punching a coffee table.
These charges were dropped by the prosecution.
Speaking after the decision Frail, of Craighead Avenue in Portlethen, said: “I’m really happy.
“A whole year I have been depressed because of this lie and I’m finally done with it.”
