A 31-year-old man has been unanimously cleared of all charges against him including sex with a child and rape.

Ryan Sheridan of Owls End Lane, Upton Snodsbury, near Worcester was acquitted by the jury of all four counts he faced at Worcester Crown Court this afternoon.

Mr Sheridan was handed a tissue by an usher as Judge James Burbidge QC, who presided over the trial, asked that he be released from the dock.

The jury came back into court at about 4.25pm this afternoon to announce the acquittals.

Mr Sheridan, who gave evidence from the witness box, maintained all the sex that took place between himself and the complainant had been entirely consensual and that the woman was 16 when they became intimate.

Mr Sheridan was cleared of the following charges: sexual activity with a child between April 29, 2011 and April 28, 2013; rape on October 31, 2014; putting a person in fear of violence by harassment between March 17, 2014 and June 26, 2019; and assault by penetration between January 1 and June 30, 2018.

Fiona Elder, defending, described Mr Sheridan as a man with no previous convictions or cautions.

She put it to the jury that, were he 'entirely untruthful' as a witness, he would not have admitted taking drugs when asked questions in his police interview or accepted that he had slapped the complainant twice.

Mrs Elder also mentioned the defendant's father's evidence who said that his son avoided conflict.

Judge Burbidge also thanked the jury for their work.