A MAN has thanked a jury after he was cleared of robbing a 13-year-old school girl of her mobile phone in the centre of Carlisle.
The city’s crown court heard earlier this week how the girl had her iPhone snatched from her hand in broad daylight while she was on Lowther Street with two female friends at around 3-20pm on July 4 last year.
Left shocked, the girl gave chase but the robber ran away.
Aaron Raymond Duncan, 30, was identified as a suspect but denied he was responsible for the robbery and went on trial. When asked during a police interview whether he had committed the crime, he replied: “No, 100 per cent I never.”
After hearing all evidence in the case, jurors today (FRI) found Mr Duncan not guilty, unanimously, of the charge.
After the verdict was announced, Mr Duncan mouthed “thank you” to jury members from the court dock.
Recorder Richard Archer told Mr Duncan, of Carlisle: “The jury having returned a ‘not guilty’ verdict, that is the end of these proceedings.”
