A YOUNG man has been cleared of raping another man following a three day trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

William Campbell had been accused of assaulting and raping the male at an address in Perth on August 23, 2017, by kissing him, groping him, pushing him and biting his ear.

He was further alleged to have taken the complainer's hand and forced him to perform a sex act.

The charge had added that Campbell, who lives in Tillicoultry with his pregnant girlfriend, had proceeded to orally raped the man.

A jury of nine women and six men heard firstly from the complainer in the case who appeared via a video link and said he had known the accused for around six weeks at the time of the incident.

The pair had met on a Diageo Learning for Life course, which gave the attendees bartending and hospitality skills, which had been organised by the job centre.

On August 22 everyone from the course attended a graduation day at The Venue, a bar in Perth, before Campbell and the complainer decided to stay at the latter’s flat in the city.

After going to Morrison’s and buying 24 Budweiser bottles, they proceeded to the address, which the complainer shared with his mum, before watching seven episodes of Game of Thrones, which they were described as “huge fans” of.

The complainer told the advocate depute that Campbell had never stayed at the flat before, a claim which was proven incorrect as he had told police at the time that he had in fact stayed there just weeks before.

Around 10pm Campbell, who was 21 at the time, went to Asda with the complainer, 19 at the time, to buy cigarettes.

When they arrived back they began smoking in the back garden when a conversation about “lifestyles” arose, prompting Campbell to admit that he had “been with a man before”, to which the complainer replied that he was “bisexual, but hadn’t been with a man”.

The complainer said: “I thought if I told him that I was bi he would not be shamed by it.

"He reacted by pushing me against the wall and kissed me. His hands were on my face. I was surprised.

"It lasted about a minute then I pushed him away and said we shouldn’t do this because we were too drunk.”

Campbell then allegedly kissed him again before they re-entered the flat and continued drinking Captain Morgan’s rum and Jack Daniels.

Shortly after, Campbell was alleged to have started kissing the complainer on the couch before trying to “grab his genitals”.

He proceeded to remove his trousers and boxer shorts before, according to the complainer, “grabbing the back of my head and pushed it to his penis and put it in my mouth”.

After between one and five minutes, the incident ended and the pair went to their separate beds.

Within the next couple of days, the complainer told a friend and his mum about what happened before going to the police on Friday, August 25 before Campbell was arrested two days later.

The court heard from Kevin McCallum, defending Campbell, as well as the accused himself who claimed the contact between the pair was completely consensual and that perhaps the complainer “regretted” the contact and felt “ashamed” by it.

After deliberating for around three hours, the jury found Campbell, of Ramsey Terrace, not guilty by majority.