A JURY has cleared a man of raping a 14-year-old boy after a four-day trial, which ended yesterday.

They took less than an hour to find Paul Thomas, 19, not guilty after the boy alleged Mr Thomas spiked his Coca Cola drink with alcohol and attacked him while he was asleep.

Mr Thomas, whose parents were on holiday in Scotland at the time of the incident, told Teesside Crown Court that he caught the youngster and his girlfriend having sex in his parents' bedroom.

He said the pair and another couple were in his parents' home the night before he was alleged to have committed the rape.

Mr Thomas said in evidence that one girl sat on the video remote control causing a gay pornographic film to appear on the television.

He told the jury: "This led to a discussion in which the girl asked the boy if they could try one of the sexual acts in the video.

"They disappeared for five to ten minutes and I discovered them having sex in my parents' bedroom."

Mr Thomas, of East Avenue, Billingham, Teesside, claimed the group met up the next night, June 8 last year, at his home when they drank gin and vodka with cola.

Thomas said they played computer games for a couple of hours before the boy left to go to his girlfriend's house.

The boy told the court earlier he fell asleep and woke to find Mr Thomas raping him.

He said he dressed and walked out before making complaints to his girlfriend, her mother and his older sister.