Saudi millionaire is cleared of raping teenager, 18, after telling court he may have accidentally penetrated her when he tripped

Property developer Ehsan Abdulaziz, 46, pictured, was accused of forcing himself on the young woman as she slept on the sofa in his flat in Maida Vale, west London. He had already had sex with her 24-year-old friend and said he might have fallen on top of the teenager while his penis was poking out the top of his underwear.

Property developer Ehsan Abdulaziz, 46, was accused of forcing himself on the young woman as she slept on the sofa in his flat in Maida Vale, west London.

He had already had sex with her 24-year-old friend and said he might have fallen on top of the teenager while his penis was poking out the top of his underwear.

Abdulaziz was cleared of one count of rape following a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The women met Abdulaziz in the exclusive Cirque le Soir nightclub in the West End on 7 August last year.

Abdulaziz knew the 24-year-old and invited the friends to join him at his private £1,000-a-night table, and later offered them a ride home in his Aston Martin.

The three went back to his apartment, where he offered them vodka before taking the 24-year-old into the bedroom for sex.

The teenager claimed she woke in the early hours of the morning to find Abdulaziz on top of her, forcing himself inside her.

Abdulaziz said he had gone to wake the young woman to offer her a T-shirt to sleep in, or to offer to pay for a taxi home, but that she pulled him on top of her and placed his hand between her legs.

In his evidence, Abdulaziz demonstrated how the complainant had put her hand behind his head to pull her towards him, causing him to fall down.

Abdulaziz was cleared of one count of rape following a trial at Southwark Crown Court, pictured

He said: ‘I’m fragile, I fell down but nothing ever happened, between me and this girl nothing ever happened.’ He said traces of his DNA could have been found in her vagina because of the fall.

He also said it was possible he had semen on his hands after the sexual encounter with her friend.

During the trial, Judge Martin Griffiths permitted the rare step of allowing 20 minutes of Abdulaziz’s evidence to be heard in private.

Culled