Police officer found not guilty of raping woman who spent night at his home

A South Yorkshire police officer has been found not guilty of raping a young woman who spent the night at his home.

Pc Rowan Horrocks had been accused of raping the woman twice, biting her repeatedly and pulling out a clump of her hair during the alleged assault in November 2021.

On Friday a jury found him not guilty of two counts of rape after less than an hour of deliberating.

Leeds Crown Court heard Horrocks, 27, and the complainant had exchanged flirtatious messages in the months leading up to the incident but had not spoken in person.

Prosecutors had claimed he persuaded her to spend the night at his house before subjecting her to “nasty, violent sex”.

Prosecutor Gillian Batts said the woman “had been drinking over a prolonged period” and was “in no fit state to consent to anything”.

Horrocks told jurors that all sexual activity between the two was consensual and that the woman “seemed fine” and “a bit merry”.

He said the bruising to her chest, neck and breasts on pictures shown in court was caused by him giving her “love bites” but denied that he “bit her very hard, repeatedly” when asked by Ms Batts.