A DECORATOR who said that two women asked him for sex was cleared yesterday of eight rape charges.
After a seven-day trial, a jury took just 45 minutes to clear John Kerry, 40, of raping two women aged 28 and 32.
Kerry, a married man, told Teesside Crown Court that he had affairs with the women, who were friends.
He said that when his wife was at work, one of them phoned him 11 times before lunch asking him for sex.
He had sex with the 32-year-old woman in the other woman's home, and the women fell out. The next day the 28-year-old went to the police and accused him of rape. The second woman made a similar complaint.
Kerry, of Kings Gardens, Sowerby, Thirsk, denied eight rape charges between January 1996 and December 1997.
He also denied procuring a woman to have sex by threats, and attempting to pervert justice.
His brother, Peter Kerry, 46, of Prospect View, Northallerton, was cleared last week of a joint rape charge involving the younger woman
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article