Jurors took around three hours to clear a man accused of raping a woman in his 4x4.

Max Warner, 30, of Dawls Close, Ascott-under-Wychwood, had been charged with rape and sexual assault by penetration.

Prosecutors claimed he assaulted the woman as they sat in his Mitsubishi Shogun at a beauty spot near Kingham, West Oxfordshire, on February 8, 2019.

READ MORE: Man, 30, accused of Mitsubishi rape

The defendant, however, said they had consensual unprotected sex – and the only time the woman told him to stop was when he was about to finish the act.

In a text conversation between the two later that evening, he said he was a ‘waste of space’ and promised to get a contraceptive pill from the shop the next day.

Asked about the messages in his police interview the day after the alleged assault, he told detectives: “I didn’t want to make her feel it was her fault. All I did was reassure her about going to the chemist.”

He stood trial over four days at Oxford Crown Court this week. The 12-strong jury returned after three hours of deliberations, unanimously finding Warner not guilty of both allegations.

Judge Nigel Daly asked Warner to leave the dock then thanked the jurors for their attention during the trial. “It is a very important civic duty. There are few other civic duties that are as important as this.”

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward