A 21-YEAR-OLD Wrexham man wept with relief when a jury found him not guilty of the rape of a young woman in September 2016.

Jury members retired for just over three hours at Caernarfon Crown Court yesterday before clearing Caleb Littleford, of Bersham Road.

Myles Wilson, prosecuting, had alleged the woman claimed to have been asleep when it took place in bed at an Old Colwyn flat and that she had recorded a mobile phone conversation in which Littleford allegedly confessed.

He said: “The prosecution case is the defendant simply didn’t care whether she was awake or asleep, consenting or not. He just wanted to have sex.”

Simon Mintz, defending, said: “She knew him well enough to smoke his dope.”

He wondered whether she had convinced herself, after cannabis, that something had happened.

On the subject of the mobile phone recording Mr Mintz pointed out a voice recognition expert had stated the possibility that it was Littleford's was “moderately strong,” but it was a scale below “strong”.

Judge Huw Rees, summing up, told the jury the girl denied getting someone to send a fake Facebook message implicating the defendant.

The voice recognition expert had said there were “a number of similarities” with Littleford’s own speech, including use of the expression: “Do you know what I mean?”

The girl said it was not something she dreamed up and recalled: “We didn’t have any alcohol. We just took dope.”

But Littleford had said in evidence the girl’s mood “was very weird and she was acting paranoid as if something was wrong with her”.

He insisted: “I had no sexual contact with her and I didn’t try it on with her when she was asleep”.

Before reaching their verdict the jury asked for the mobile phone recording to be played once more.

On Thursday Littleford was arrested after failing to attend court and the following day Judge Rees remanded him in custody for the weekend for breach of bail.

Today Judge Rees said it must have been an unpleasant experience and no further punishment was necessary.