Telford man is cleared of rape while watching Olympics ceremony
A Telford man accused of raping a woman while they watched the final night of London 20123 Olympics has been cleared.
William James Titley, 56, of Dodmoor Grange, Randlay, had denied a charge of rape, which prosecutors claimed took place on the evening of August 12, 2012.
A jury of 12 men and women unanimously found him not guilty of raping the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at the end of a trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.
Mr Ekwall Tiwana, for Titley, said the woman had brought the case after being embarrassed that she had committed a sex act with a man old enough to be her grandfather.
"She then gave three different versions of what happened to the police, the doctor and a friend," said Mr Tiwana. "There were no bruises, scratches or injuries. She said it was a violent attack but there were no rips to the clothing.
"She made these allegations because of embarrassment. She got in to a situation where she lost her self control."
The three-day trial before Judge Paul Barrie had heard evidence that Mr Titley, a former foundry worker who now works in waste management, had raped the woman on her sofa while her children were in bed.
On the second day of the trial, a friend told the court that Titley had previously asked the woman and a friend , who are in their 20s and 30s, to play a game in which he flipped a coin and if it landed on heads they had to show him their breasts.
The jury believed that Titley, who has learning difficulties and had been friends with the woman for a number of years, had indulged in a sex act with her as they watched the Olympic Games on television but that it was consensual .
