Metropolitan Police officer James Geoghegan has been found not guilty of raping a woman.

The 27-year-old was cleared unanimously following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

The officer, from Aylesbury, had been suspended from work but denied the charge and said the sex at the woman’s home in December 2018 was consensual.

Mr Geoghegan was acquitted after less than a day of deliberation by the jury.

There were gasps and crying from the public gallery as the verdict was read out.

The officer said “thank you, your honour” as Judge Patricia Lynch told him he could leave the dock.

Earlier in the trial, jurors were told Mr Geoghegan had given a prepared statement when police interviewed him.

He said that after waking up at the woman’s house, she had told him: “Did you not hear me say no?”

“It was a complete shock, I didn’t know what she was on about,” said Mr Geoghegan.

“She said she had said no to having sex. I was so shocked.

“I genuinely thought we were going to wake up and spend the day together and start seeing each other like we were saying the night before.

“I was so shocked because, as far as I knew, we just had passionate sex with each other and it was really good.”

Mr Geoghegan said the sex happened after they had taken a taxi back to her house, where they danced and talked.

He said he’d offered to sleep on the sofa, but that the woman “insisted” he sleep in her bed.

“She laughingly said we were going to have a cuddle and a spoon,” said the police officer.

The woman had said she’d told him “no” and “stop” – but the jury did not accept her version of events.

Mr Geoghegan, whose mother was in the courtroom, wiped away tears as his barrister Nicholas Corsellis QC said he had waited a long time for the case to be resolved.

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