A man has been cleared of raping a woman in an Ipswich bar before leaving her naked on the street.

IPSWICH: A man has been cleared of raping a woman in an Ipswich bar before leaving her naked on the street.

Jurors in the case of Jamie Scoulding took less than three hours to unanimously clear him of the attack at Keo's in St Nicholas Street on June 24.

The 22-year-old had previously admitted assaulting the woman after having consensual sex with her but had always denied rape.

His family and friends broke down in tears in the public gallery as the foreman read out the verdict.

Earlier in the four-day trial at Ipswich Crown Court, prosecutors had alleged Scoulding had either raped the woman after knocking her unconscious or had taken advantage of her in her drunken state.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of the father-of-one throwing the woman's belongings on to the street and then dragging her naked out of Keo's, where he worked as a bar manager, before leaving her on the pavement.

However, Scoulding, of Hyperion Court, Ipswich, rejected this version of events, claiming the pair had met in the Milestone pub earlier in the evening before heading to Keo's after closing time so she could collect a bag.

Once there, he said the two began kissing and eventually had sex. However, Scoulding said the woman became angry when she realised he had not used contraception.

He admitted punching her after she had thrown a glass at him before kicking her out on to the street.

Judge John Holt told Scoulding he would be sentenced for assault occasioning actual bodily harm during the week commencing November 30.

He was remanded in custody and warned by Judge Holt he faced a “significant” prison term.

Earlier in the trial, the court heard Scoulding had initially lied to police by claiming he had found the woman staggering in the street with blood on her face and had invited her to Keo's to clean herself up.