A MAN has been found not guilty, unanimously, of three charges which alleged the rape of a woman in Penrith.
Mark George Farrell, 28, went on trial earlier this week at Carlisle Crown Court.
Farrell denied three charges. Each of these alleged the rape of a woman in Penrith during the early hours of April 1.
They arose out of an incident in a town centre alleyway. Giving evidence during the trial, Farrell insisted that a sexual encounter involving him and the woman was entirely consensual.
His lawyer, Brian Williams, had asked him: “Whilst it was happening, did she say anything or do anything to make you think she didn’t want this to happen?”
“Absolutely not,” replied Farrell.
And this afternoon (THURS), a jury of six men and six women found Farrell not guilty, unanimously, on all three charges.
After the verdicts were returned, Farrell, of St Ann’s Crescent, Carlisle, was fined £50 by Judge James Adkin, having previously admitted possession of the class A drug cocaine on April 1.
