A MAN accused of following a teenage girl across a city centre before raping her has been found not guilty by a jury.

York Crown Court heard Tomasz Bekierz, 33, had led the 16-year-old to a bench beside the River Ouse in the early hours of August 17 last year.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said the girl had been friendly towards Bekierz, of Acomb, when they first met, but was too drunk to know what was happening.

He said it was preposterous to suggest that the victim, a pretty girl, would “willingly and freely” consent to unprotected sex with Bekierz.

But Bekierz, who came to the UK in 2007 to work in hotels, told the court the girl had been responsive and consented to each and every one of the sexual acts they performed together.

Nicholas Johnson, defending, said the girl had been sober enough not to slur her words, had spent 30 minutes in McDonald’s eating and drinking soft drinks before the alleged rape, and had talked to, hugged and kissed Bekierz several times through the night.