A SOLDIER accused of raping a woman he met in a nightclub has walked free from court after being cleared by a jury.

Stephen Reeves showed no emotion as he was found not guilty on the sixth day of his trial at Teesside Crown Court.

The Irish Guard, based at Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire, at the time, left court with a senior officer.

It was alleged that the 32-year-old "roughly" attacked the woman in her home in nearby Richmond on May 24 last year.

The prosecution said she was shoved onto a bed and had her face gripped "like a rag doll" and has bruises to her leg.

Mr Reeves told police after his arrest that the woman was enjoying herself and their encounter had been consensual.

He was arrested by a traffic officer after a report of a rape, and the details of the alleged offender being circulated by police.

Mr Reeves, who has served with the Irish Guards for the past 12 years and was posted to Catterick Garrison in November 2014, said he got chatting to the woman in Louis Bar, Catterick, and was invited back to her home.

He said he was under the impression they were going to have sex by “the way she was kissing me and grinding her body against mine”.

In his account, he said during sex the woman suddenly stopped and then disappeared. He believed she had gone to the toilet.

But he then discovered she had in fact left, leaving the door to the house open.

He told officers: “I just thought she had enough. I did not get the impression she was afraid, she seemed to be enjoying it.

“At no point did she tell me to stop.”

When interviewed by police, the woman said Mr Reeves had pushed her onto a bed and threatened her.

She said he had been “really rough” and held her face “like a rag doll”.

Mr Reeves, who is originally from Belfast, said the woman had not seemed distressed.

However, friends later reported her as crying and hysterical, while she also had bruises and scratches to her thigh.