What started as fun between a 19 - year - old lady and
her 23 - year - old male friend has resulted in the man ’ s
suspension from school for three years , after which he
faced a long court battle and unrelenting public
backlash .
As reported by the Daily Mail , Joshua Lines and his
female friend had been on a night out , during which
they both shared a bottle of dry wine that made them
drunk .
The incident happened three years ago at the
Manchester University halls of residence , where they
had both attended a student house party .
Reports say they both fell asleep together while
watching a Disney movie , Lady and the Tramp .
The lady , who was not named , claimed she was woken
up several hours later by the sound of a laptop falling
off her bed to find herself on top of Joshua , with her
pyjama bottoms pulled down and him having sex with
her .
She said she fled in tears to her en - suite bathroom and
locked herself inside for several hours until she was
sure he had left the room .
Joshua later tried to contact her on Facebook , sending
her a message saying : ‘ What ’ s happened ’ , to which she
replied : ‘ I don ’ t want anything to do with you . ’
Joshua Lines , from Wigan, Greater Manchester , who
claimed he had been too drunk to remember whether
the pair had sex , was later charged with rape over the
encounter in November 2014 .
He sat through two trials where both he and his
accuser gave evidence and which culminated in jurors
in both cases failing to agree on a verdict .
A medical examination carried out on the woman
several days later showed no traces of Joshua ’ s DNA.
The jury had been told Joshua and the woman had
been friends for three years .
While he was attracted to her , she said she didn ’ t
share his feelings and that the relationship was
platonic.
In a videoed statement to police, the woman said : “ I
remember everything that happened and I know I was
not drunk .
“ When we got back , we decided to watch a film . I went
to the bathroom and got changed and Josh was already
in the bed .
“ I put the film on and I remember before falling asleep
that he turned me to face him and cuddled me but that
was nothing unusual . I assume we fell asleep like that.
“ But I woke up on top of him and he was having sex
with me and I was in shock and I started crying .
“ Initially , he froze and I said : ‘ I know what you have
just done , ’ and I went into the bathroom and locked
the door . Josh came to the door and said stuff to me
but I couldn ’ t hear, he then left the flat.
“ He sent me a Facebook message saying : ‘ What ’ s
happened ’ to which I replied: ‘ I don ’ t want anything to
do with you , go back to the house party , I ’ m sure
someone will let you crash there . ’
“ I went home on the Saturday and whilst I was at
home I didn ’ t think about it but when I came back to
Manchester it was hard . I mentioned it to a few people
who said I had to do something . On the Thursday I
woke up and thought I had to do something . ”
“ When we got back to her flat, I said I would sleep in
the bath and she said : ‘ Don ’ t be silly ’ and so it was her
idea for me to sleep in the bed , ” Joshua said .
“ We had slept in the same bed before and I thought it
was fine; so I took my jeans off and was wearing my t -
shirt and boxer shorts and she changed into her
pyjamas .
“ When the film was put on , I begun to feel funny and
the room was spinning — she was a bit tipsy too . I then
fell asleep and when I woke up , she had her head on
my chest . I tried to move her out of the way , but she
was draped over me with her legs either side.
“ I left to be sick and ended up in the basement . I don ’ t
believe I could have done what she said I did because
of the logistics of it . She woke up on top of me with her
legs either side , how would I get her there ?”
On Thursday at Manchester Crown Court, Joshua Lines ,
now 23 , was formally cleared on rape when
prosecutors said they would not be seeking a third trial
after speaking to the woman , also 23
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