A man has been cleared of raping two teenage girls at the High Court in Glasgow.
Ryan Mackenzie, 21, was alleged to have raped a 15-year-old girl at a property in Forres, Moray, in September 2016.
He was also accused of attacking an 18-year-old girl in Cooper Park, Elgin, on July 27, 2018.
But, a jury at the High Court in Glasgow cleared the former bricklaying apprentice of both charges after a trial on Wednesday.
The jury found him not guilty of raping the 15-year-old and the charge of raping the 18-year-old not proven.
Mackenzie denied the allegations and claimed that any sexual interactions with the girls were consensual.
It was claimed that Mackenzie raped the 15-year-old girl on a sofa bed when he was 16.
He was asked by his lawyer Edith Forrest whether he had raped the girl and he replied: “No.”
Mackenzie was later accused of raping the 18-year-old girl in bushes at Cooper Park, Elgin.
The pair had earlier met at a nearby pub and decided to walk home together.
He claimed the pair stopped having consensual sexual contact after he looked at his phone and believed his mum would lock the house door as it was late.
He then claimed the pair hugged and kissed before going their separate ways.
Mackenzie added: “We were both calm and happy and generally okay.
“I then found my mum had locked the door when I got back so I went to my friend’s house and stayed with him.”
Mackenzie, of Elgin, was told by judge Graham Buchanan: “In light of the jury’s verdict you are free to leave the court.”
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