Portsmouth sailor cleared of raping sleeping woman

Able seaman Callum Fennell, 25, was acquitted of raping and sexually assaulting the complainant by a jury in just 30 minutes, following a three-day trial at Plymouth Crown Court.

The Plymouth Herald reported that Mr Fennell had earlier wiped away tears as he told the trial how he believed the woman had consented to sex in bed in the early hours.

The father-of-one, who was serving on board Devonport-based HMS Monmouth at the time, said he believed she was awake because she was making noises and moved her body towards him.

He said that he only knew about the complaint of rape the next morning when he received an angry text from the woman’s mother.

Mr Fennell, from Cosham, had denied raping the woman on April 1 last year.

He has also pleaded not guilty to a single count of sexual assault about a week before.

Releasing him from the dock as a free man, Recorder Phillip Mott QC said: ‘You are discharged. You can carry on with the Navy.’