A NIGHTCLUB worker accused of raping a clubber after walking her home has been cleared.

Daniel Hemming, of Easington Road, Banbury, had always denied the single count of rape alleged to have taken place at a Banbury park in the early hours of September 19, 2015.

As the 29-year old’s trial at Oxford Crown Court came to an end today, there were sighs of relief from friends and family in the public gallery as the jury of six women and six men found him not guilty by a unanimous verdict.

During the four-day trial Mr Hemming had taken to the witness box and told the court that while he had engaged in sexual activity with the women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, there had been no penetration.

He told jurors: "I always respect women. I felt guilty for my part in the mutual [sex act] because I should never have gone as far as I did because we both had partners.

“I was being the decent guy walking her home and it went further than either of us wanted and now It has bitten me in the a***.

“I gave her a hug and she kissed me first, we have both kissed each other, we were walking together side by side on the way home.”

In CCTV footage shown during the trial, the pair were seen walking hand in hand out of the Moo Moo nightclub in High Street, Banbury at about 3am.

Mr Hemming had offered to walk the woman, who had drank a number of shots, cocktails and spirits during the night out, part way to her home.

The court heard that they had headed to a nearby public park and prosecutors had tried to argue that it was here that Mr Hemming had pushed her up against a fence and raped her.

Rejecting that argument, the jury agreed with Mr Hemming that there had never been a rape and that the sex acts they engaged in were consensual and did not involve penetration.