A man accused of raping and abducting a woman in Huntly has been acquitted following a trial.
Saulius Bauza had been on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen facing two charges of assault and rape, and one of abduction.
It had been alleged the 40-year-old twice raped the woman at a guesthouse in Huntly in the early hours of April 7, 2019.
And it was further alleged he abducted her in between those incidents, chasing her down the street, picking her up and forcing her to go back to the guesthouse with him.
Mr Bauza had denied the charges against him and lodged a special defence of consent.
However, Mr Bauza has now been acquitted of all three charges, after a remote jury took just over an hour to reach their verdict.
Mr Bauza was found not guilty by majority over the first assault and rape charge, and not proven by majority over the second assault and rape, and abduction charges.
Addressing Mr Bauza, of Broad Street, Arvagh, Ireland, Judge Graham Buchanan said: “You have been acquitted by the jury of all the charges against you.
“That is the end of the matter and you are now free to go.”
After three days of evidence, the fourth day of the trial saw closing speeches from advocate depute Ann Gray for the crown, and defence counsel Leigh Lawrie.
On the first day of the trial, the court was shown CCTV images of Mr Bauza and the woman dancing together in a Huntly club before walking through the town towards the guesthouse, where Mr Bauza had been staying.
Further footage showed the woman alone on the street outside the guesthouse, walking away and then returning on two occasions in the early hours of the morning.
Another video then showed her running away from the guesthouse area in just a towel, and falling on the road, with Mr Bauza running after her, picking her up and walking back towards the guesthouse with her.
On day two of the trial, the woman gave evidence, stating that she had returned to the guesthouse as she had forgotten her handbag before she claimed the attack took place.
Speaking about the impact the alleged incidents had had on her, she said: “It changed my life and I’m unable to speak about it. I still get flashbacks.”
On the third day of the trial, Mr Bauza took to the witness stand and told the court the woman had been behaving erratically and that he had been “concerned for her” that night.
Forensic physician Dr Stuart Taylor, who examined the woman after she called the police, also told the court he found injuries “consistent with blunt force trauma”, and that two of the wounds were in “an unusual site for accidental injury”.
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