A HOMELESS man has been cleared of raping a runaway 17-year-old girl a tent behind a Bradford church.
Thomas Farndale, 29, of no fixed abode, was found not guilty at Bradford Crown Court on the direction of the judge after the close of the prosecution case today.
Farndale, who was in custody, was accused of taking advantage of the teenager, a stranger he met by chance at 11pm on February 26.
She had run away from home and had nowhere to stay.
They had sex in a tent he had pitched in the grounds of St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in East Parade, the court was told.
Farndale told the police the teenager was a willing and enthusiastic partner.
He said she was telling a pack of lies after consenting to the sex.
She invited him to "dive into" the tent with her and made the first moves.
"She was all over me like a rash," he said.
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