Teen found not guilty of raping schoolgirl

The teen, then only 15 himself, was said to have pushed his alleged victim against a tree and then to the ground in the woods close to the school where both youngsters were pupils.

He was then said to have raped her.

However, he denied the offence and told the High Court in Stirling that she had agreed to sex.

The incident, which happened in January last year, was reported by the alleged victim to a police officer permanently stationed on the school premises, but after a four-day trial, a jury of eight men and seven women took less than an hour to find the boy, now 17, not guilty. The verdict was unanimous.

The boy wept in the dock when the verdict was announced and trial judge Lord Turnbull told him he was free to go.

Giving evidence, the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that the girl, who also cannot be identified, had willingly gone with him to the woods, where they’d had consensual sex.

He told his advocate, Lorraine Glancy, that he had been excluded from school after the incident and had not completed his studies.