Man found not guilty of putting finger up woman’s bottom during consensual sex
Joe Roberts for Metro.co.uk
A man accused of putting his finger in a woman’s anus during consensual sex has been found not guilty.
Scott Howard was cleared of sexual assault by a jury at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday.
The court heard how the 26-year-old went for a drink at the woman’s home in Huddersfield after talking on Facebook.
She alleged that after they began having sex in March last year, he assaulted her while she was on top of him.
Opening the trial, Richard Woolfall, prosecuting, said: ‘She agreed to sexual intercourse with him.
‘In doing that act, he then put his finger up her bottom. It was painful. She told him to stop.’
Mr Woolfall said that this went on for several minutes until the woman got off the defendant, asking him why he did not stop.
In a video recording of the woman’s police interview, she claimed the defendant immediately denied putting his finger in her – and denied even having sex with her, adding: ‘He was, like, trying to convince me that nothing had happened – that I was going totally crazy.’
She also claimed that Mr Howard told her he had recently ended a long-term relationship and had been trying to convince her to have sex for hours.
But she said she did not want to and she does not know why she got on top of him on the sofa, describing herself as ‘quite easily influenced’.
The alleged victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had known Howard, of Newlands Avenue, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, for years but they had never been in a relationship.
During cross-examination, she said that she did not orgasm during sex with the defendant and they had only been having sex for about five minutes when it happened.
John Batchelor, defending, said: ‘But then your mood suddenly changed.’
The woman replied: ‘When he inserted his finger and it hurt, yeah.’
In tears, she added: ‘Normally when you are having sex you are supposed to stop if someone says no.’
Mr Batchelor asked the woman if she had even accused Howard of rape afterwards, to which she replied that she could not remember.
He asked: ‘Did you feel at that point that you had simply let yourself down and felt used?’
She replied: ‘No.’
Mr Batchelor said that his client accepted having sex with her, but said that the offence never happened.
There were cheers from the public gallery when the jury delivered the verdict.
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Originally Posted by RBP
