IPSWICH: A 28-year-old man today told of his delight after being cleared of rape.

Satpreet Singh was yesterday found not guilty of two counts of raping a woman after a trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

The foreman of the jury returned the two verdicts to cries, cheers and clapping from the public gallery.

Speaking outside the court, surrounded by his overjoyed family, Mr Singh said: “I am so pleased that justice has been done today after what has been a very hard eight months.”

During the trial, it emerged the woman asked if she could stay at Mr Singh’s house after an evening out on July 31 last year with him and his cousin.

Returning to his Salisbury Road home, the woman got into his bed.

Mr Singh, who had been drinking during the evening, said he had stripped down to his boxers and had got on to the mattress he used as a bed next to the woman, but claimed that “nothing sexual” had been going through his head.

He said that after chatting for a while, they had started flirting with each other and “one thing had led to another.”

He said they had sex and he had then passed out because of the amount he had to drink.

He claimed the woman, who is in her early 20s, had taken off her own trousers and knickers and he may have helped remove her bra.

The woman claimed in court Mr Singh had slapped her before ripping her clothes off.

He said he didn’t know how her knickers were torn, but said it could have happened while they were “fumbling” in the bed.

The woman told the court that she had repeatedly told Singh to get off her and when he fell asleep she had taken �20 from a pocket in his trousers and used the money to get a taxi.

n Do you know Mr Singh? What’s your reaction to the verdict? Write to Your Letters, The Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk