07/09/2012

Larne Farmer Cleared Of Rape And Sexual Assault

A farmer from Larne has been cleared of raping and sexually abusing his former partner's daughter.

The 37-year-old cannot be named because of the risk of identifying the teenager involved.

A jury at Antrim Crown Court acquitted the man of a total of seven charges.

The teenager had claimed the offences happened in August 2009 in the house she shared with her mother and the man.

But the farmer had always maintained that the pair had invented the allegations as part of a cover-up after they stole money from his farm.

During a three-week trial, it emerged that the farmer plied the teenager with alcohol and forced her to watch a pornographic video.

It was also alleged that at one stage he also unlawfully imprisoned her in a bedroom, of which he was also acquitted.

(NE)

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