A MAN who admitted assaulting a teenager in his home walked free from court yesterday.

Malcolm McMurrough, 21, was said to have raped and threatened to kill the woman, dragged her by her hair, and hid his keys to ensure she was locked inside his home, in Maple Terrace, Shiney Row, near Sunderland.

But a jury at Newcastle Crown Court cleared him of the more serious charges yesterday, and he pleaded guilty to assaulting the 19-year-old last November.

McMurrough was sentenced to serve an 18-month community rehabilitation order.