An 18-year-old man has been cleared of repeatedly raping and beating a girl at a house in Nelson.
Teenager Mikael Hussain, now of Bradford, who lived in Wickliffe Street, Nelson, at the time, was found not guilty by the jury at Burnley Crown Court of four counts of rape and three counts of assault causing actual bodily harm.
He was discharged from the dock by Judge Robert Altham at the end of the five-day trial.
Hussain was alleged by the prosecution to have slapped, punched, pinched and kicked the girl on different occasions if she did not do what he wanted.
He was also accused of tying her to a mattress with cable ties in a locked bedroom.
Hussain was questioned three times by police after being arrested, and maintained his innocence from the start, denying raping and assaulting the girl. He also denied being controlling or threatening the girl’s family and friends.