A 38-YEAR-OLD man has been acquitted of sexually assaulting a woman in the centre of Belfast after prosecutors said they would not be presenting any evidence.
Pondai Bamu spent a year in custody on remand over an incident he always claimed was consensual.
The Zimbabwean, whose address was given as Johnstone Mews in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, was due to stand trial for a third time on Monday after two previous trials were aborted.
However, after a jury was sworn in, Roseanne McCormick QC told Belfast Crown Court: "This is a matter in which the prosecution is not going to call any evidence."
Her Honour Judge McCaffery then said: "I must direct you to return a not guilty verdict in relation to both matters on which the defendant was charged."
Mr Bamu was charged with sexually assaulting a woman and orally raping her in an alleyway off Rosemary Street in the early hours of September 24 2015.
He was told by Judge McCaffery he had been "found not guilty by direction and therefore you are free to go".
His solicitor John Gibbons said afterwards: "My client maintained his innocence from the very start. He is delighted that he has been vindicated, but obviously very annoyed at being held in custody on remand since his arrest a year ago.
"My client is happy the jury has been directed to find him not guilty, as that is what he is. He is looking forward to putting this traumatic experience behind him and getting on with his life."
