Police officer has been found not guilty of raping a woman who spent the night at his home

A South Yorkshire police officer has been found not guilty of raping a young woman who spent the night at his home.

PC Rowan Horrocks was accused of raping the woman twice, biting her repeatedly and pulling out a lock of her hair during the alleged attack in November 2021.

On Friday, a jury found him not guilty of two counts of rape after deliberating for less than an hour.

Leeds Crown Court heard Horrocks, 27, said the complainant had exchanged flirtatious messages in the months before the incident but had not spoken in person.

Prosecutors had alleged he persuaded her to spend the night at his house before subjecting her to “nasty, violent sex”.

Prosecutor Gillian Batts said the woman had been “drinking for an extended period” and was “unable to consent to anything”.

Horrocks told jurors that all sexual activity between the two was consensual and that the woman “seemed well” and was “a bit happy”.

He said the bruises on her chest, neck and breasts in the pictures shown in court were caused by him giving her “love bites” but denied he “bite her very hard repeatedly” as a woman Batts she asked.