A man who had been accused of raping and beating a former girlfriend walked free from court today after a jury found him not guilty.

Tariq Adalat, 32, of no fixed address, had pleaded not guilty to rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, on a night in May 2012.

The jury of six men and six women at Bradford Crown Court unanimously cleared Mr Adalat of both charges after deliberating for 40 minutes.

He clasped his hands in front of him and looked relieved as the verdicts were announced.

The young mother had claimed the defendant had hit her round the head, kicked and punched her, and forced her to have sex with him on the bed at her Bradford home.

But he denied the alleged attack took place at all and said that he was not at the address.

In his defence, Mr Adalat said the complainant had made a false accusation of rape and had never been consistent about anything.