TEENAGE soldier Craig Lovitt walked free from court after being cleared of the rape of a 15-year-old girl behind a school classroom in Bicester.

Lovitt, 19, an Army driver, wept and hugged his family after an Oxford Crown Court jury found him not guilty yesterday.

He had been accused of forcing the girl, who cannot be named, into having sex with him in the grounds of Bicester Community College in the early hours of October 4 last year. He denied the charge, saying she consented.

Outside the courtroom, Lovitt, who serves with the 27 Transport Regiment, based in Aldershot, Hampshire, said he now wanted to put the case behind him. He told the Oxford Mail: "I'm just glad it's all over. The last few months have been hell for me. Now I want to get on with my life in the Army. This will have no effect at all on my career."

The girl alleged that Lovitt, who was staying at his family home in Bucknell Road, Bicester, was walking with a friend when he met her on a road in the town after she had said goodnight to her boyfriend. She said they went behind a canteen and a classroom, where she claimed the rape took place.She said: "He pulled my trousers down. My mind went blank but I knew he was going to rape me. I said I wanted to go home. He was saying 'just once please - a quickie'. I said 'no'. He did it."

Lovitt admitted the pair had sex, but it was with her consent, even though she had refused his advances three times. She also agreed to go behind the classroom with him, Lovitt said.

He added: "I thought she might have sex with me if she went round there. I did not force her or threaten her to go there. I asked to put a condom on me and she agreed.

"My thoughts were that she wanted to have sex."

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