A man accused of raping a woman as she slept yesterday walked free from court after he was cleared by a jury.

Steven Mason, 28, was found not guilty of raping the 34-year-old woman by the jury of six men and six women at Teesside Crown Court which took just over an hour and a quarter to deliver its verdict.

A formal not guilty verdict was entered on a second charge of trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence after prosecutor Christine Egerton said the Crown would offer no evidence.

Mr Mason, whose last permanent address was at Windermere Road, Hartlepool, was accused of entering the woman's home through an unlocked door in the early hours of May 7 and then raping her as she slept on a sofa.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had claimed that she at first thought the man having sex with her was her partner, since it was dark and she could not see his face.

In his defence Mr Mason said he was simply walking past the woman's home when he struck up a conversation with her.

He chatted to the woman and then followed her inside the house before the pair had consensual sex.

His barrister Ian West said the complainant was drunk by her own admission, having consumed alcohol and cannabis, and suggested she had initiated the unprotected sex after falling out with her partner.