A DRINKER accused of attacking a woman after following her into the ladies’ toilets of a packed pub has been cleared by a jury.

Michael Eddy was yesterday unanimously acquitted of a charge of sexual assault at the end of a four-day trial at Teesside Crown Court.

The jury took less than two hours to clear the 36- year-old taxi driver.

Mr Eddy, of Droitwich Avenue, Stockton, admitted going into the female toilets, but said he had been invited in by the “flirtatious” woman who later said she was attacked.

He told the jury he was stunned, saying: “I just thought, it’s not very often something like this happens – myself and a pretty young girl.”

In an interview with police, he described himself as “overweight, unfit and “no oil painting” and said the woman seemed out of his league. Mr Eddy said there had been a bout of sexual banter in the bar involving a number of people, including himself and the 22-year-old.

He told the jury that each time she went to the toilet, the woman made a remark, and towards the end of the night invited him to follow.

Once inside the cubicle together, he said, she began to touch him, but without warning, suddenly changed and started screaming.

The incident happened at The Dubliners, in Thornaby, near Stockton, on January 27.