An estate agent who says he lost his job after being accused of rape has been cleared of the offence after telling a jury he was 100 per cent sure she consented to sex.
The Exeter Express & Echo news website is reporting that Anthony Boyne was accused of having sex with a woman when she was so drunk she could not resist.
However, he told Exeter Crown Court that the woman had been making advances to him before asking to go to his property in which they had sex.
The website says Boyne lost his job with an Exeter agency as a result of his arrest and was forced to move out of his flat in the city because of the incident.
He was found not guilty after telling the jury that he himself called the police after the woman suffered an apparent panic attack; at the time of the call, he was unaware that the woman, too, had earlier contacted the police.
The report says the woman initially told the police she thought her drinks had been spiked but a toxicology report showed no drugs in her system and a high level of alcohol.
You can see the full story here.
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So much for being innocent before being proven guilty
The presumption of innocence before being proven guilty is very probably the most important principle by which we have lived for a very long time. It's been the safety net that ensures corrupt governments (which is to say, all of them) and law enforcers cannot indefinitely lock us up, because they don't like the cut of our jib. They must prove our guilt.
No more, it seems. The first footsteps down this dangerous path are being taken by the nincompoops that wield the power in this nation. Not a very 'property' comment, I grant you, but a valid point nonetheless.
As for the poor sod caught up in this sorry tale, I sincerely hope he gets some respite.
Nincompoops, brilliant. Perfectly sums up Cameron, Osborne, Hunt et al.
Yes, this does seem like a case of guilty before being proven innocent. I think the agency jumped the gun far too soon on this. Their reaction was understandable - they wanted to protect their reputation and the inevitable bad PR that would come their way if they kept him on and it turned out he was guilty - but they don't out of this looking too great.
Sad and sorry state of affairs all round. Hope the agent gets his life back on track after this.
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