Nile Ranger rape case: two police officers suspended

Two police officers involved in the Nile Ranger rape investigation have been suspended from duty.

Ranger, 22, was cleared of rape earlier this week at Newcastle Crown Court.

It had been alleged, wrongly, that the former Newcastle United striker attacked a woman at a hotel in Jesmond.

Now two officers involved in the case face an internal investigation.

Ex-Newcastle United striker Nile Ranger has been found not guilty of rape. After the hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, he posted a statement on his Twitter feed, thanking his family, his legal team and his new football club, League One's Swindon Town.

Helen Ford reports.

Ex-Newcastle United footballer Nile ranger has posted on Twitter a statement thanking everyone who has supported him during a week-long trial, which saw him cleared of rape. He also thanked his new club Swindon Town FC.

Former Newcastle United striker leaves Newcastle Crown Court after being found not guilty of rape.

A solicitor acting for Nile Ranger has said the footballer is "delighted" to be found not guilty of rape.

Nile Ranger himself left the court building without making any comment, but after the foreman delivered the not guilty verdict he banged on the sides of the dock and said "Thank God for that".

As he walked out he thanked the jury and pulling off his tie said: "What a joke."

The footballer Nile Ranger said "yes" as he was cleared of raping a woman in a hotel room in the Jesmond area of Newcastle.

It had taken a jury less than an hour and a half to reach a not guilty verdict, after a week-long trial at Newcastle Crown Court. The footballer, who had always denied the charges, left the court almost immediately, without speaking to waiting media.

The former Newcastle United player Nile Ranger has been cleared of raping a woman in a hotel room.

The 22-year-old striker, who now plays for Swindon Town, always denied the accusation and said he had consensual sex with her after going out drinking together. A jury at Newcastle Crown Court returned the not guilty verdict this afternoon after a week-long trial.

Former Newcastle United player Nile Ranger has been found not guilty of rape after a hearing at Newcastle Crown Court.

The judge is summing up in the trial of former Newcastle United footballer Nile Ranger, who is accused of rape.

It is alleged the 22 year old raped a woman in January of 2013 in a hotel room in Newcastle.

He denies the charge.

The judge told jurors at the city's Crown Court to approach the case dispassionately and that "neither prejudice nor sympathy should play any part in their deliberations."

The trial continues.

Former Newcastle United striker Nile Ranger, who is accused of raping a woman in a hotel, deleted a "trophy photo" from his phone minutes before handing it in to the police because "he knew it would give the game away", a court has heard.

The 22-year-old took the picture of some bedding, a room key and a notepad in the £30-a-night hotel after allegedly raping a woman who he had been out drinking with.

However, after being arrested he removed the image from his phone just before he handed over his belongings at the police station.

Asking Ranger about why he had taken the picture, Christine Egerton, prosecuting, said:

"Its not that you wanted a trophy is it?" and went on to accuse him of removing it because it was incriminating.

"You deleted that image from the phone that you had secreted on you minutes before," she said.

"You had been deleting an incriminating image because you knew you had to hand your property over. You knew that it would give the game away, you knew you had done something wrong."

Now with Swindon Town, and nursing a hamstring injury which meant he sat down to give evidence at Newcastle Crown Court, Ranger denies raping the woman and insists they had consensual sex.

He said he did not view the picture to be a trophy because it was not very pleasant and told the jury he could not remember why he had taken it.

Earlier, he said he had never engaged in sexual activity with a woman against her wishes and that the pair had engaged in sex in different positions.

The alleged victim says she was raped in the Carlton Hotel, Jesmond, after agreeing to meet the footballer in a city centre bar.

She said she could not remember anything until she woke up naked in the hotel room the next morning.

Ranger told her she should take the morning after pill and she left, she said, and they continued to swap messages that day.

She then visited her GP, was checked at hospital and made a rape allegation to police.

Ranger denies a charge of rape and the case was adjourned until Monday.