A TEENAGER accused of raping a girl under the age of 13 has been found not guilty by a jury.

Samuel Preece, 18, of Redhouse faced 10 charges during a trial at Swindon Crown Court, including sexual assault and rape of a girl aged under 13 – but he has been cleared of all charges.

The allegations were made by the claimant in May last year after she had found herself in trouble at school and was sent to see the school nurse.

Mr Preece denied all charges and was supported by his family in court throughout the trial.

During the defence’s case, his lawyer Marcus Davey suggested that the claim was a lie that had got out of hand and the alleged victim never wanted the authorities to get involved.

He said to her: “You were told by the school nurse that she was going to inform the authorities.

“You were very much against that, got quite upset about it.

“I am going to suggest the reason you didn’t want it to happen was because you knew it wasn’t true?”

The jury came to their decision of a not guilty verdict within an hour of being sent out by Judge Douglas Field.