A MAN accused of three counts of rape against a teenage student in a York street has been cleared.

The jury at York Crown Court took less than two hours to clear Simon Christopher Nunns of the assault on the 18-year-old woman in a court yard off Coney Street.

Nunns, 29, bowed his head and clutched a set of rosary beads as the three verdicts were announced by the chairman of the jury.

Afterwards Nunns said “justice has been served”.

The week-long trial heard how the alleged victim had spent the evening of November 9 drinking in the Revolution vodka bar off Coney Street, with three friends.

After her two friends left, the woman carried on drinking with another group of people, which included Nunns, who at the time lived in Hampden Street. It was while the two walked together down Coney Street that Nunns was alleged to have taken the woman to the secluded Judges Court, behind the former Ha! Ha! Bar in New Street where he worked at the time.

The woman, who admitted her memory was badly affected by drink, alleged it was there that the rape had taken place.

Nunns said the sex was consensual after the pair had begun kissing.

He said: “It seemed like the girl needed to sit down. I said there was a set of steps where she could sit down.

“I did not think about whether it was secluded or not, just that she needed to sit down.

“At no point did she say to me, ‘no, stop’ or ‘I do not want to do this’,” he said, adding: “There was no arguing, no refusals.”