A NORTHWICH businessman accused of rape has walked free after a trial at Chester Crown Court.

Benjamin James Kershaw, of Bishops Way, Winnington, denied raping a 34-year-old woman on January 24, 2018.

The 41-year-old told the court he had been in a relationship with the woman and that the sex was consensual.

Kershaw described the rape allegation against him as 'ludicrous'.

After listening to four days of evidence, Judge Michael Leeming sent the jury of seven women and five men out on Friday.

They returned on Tuesday, August 30, and delivered a verdict of ‘not guilty’.

Mark Connor, prosecuting, explained the background to the case and the reasons why the woman did not report the matter to police until more than two years after the alleged incident.

The jury had been asked to consider two conflicting versions of what had happened that night.

Mr Connor told the jury: “This is a case that essentially boils down to who is telling the truth.

“The defendant claims to have been in a relationship at the time and that the sex was consensual.

“The prosecution will make the case that it is complete fiction they were in a relationship.

“There are going to be two completely contrasting versions of what happened that night.

“Someone this week will be telling you the truth and someone will be telling you lies.”

The court heard an audio recording of a 101 call made by the woman in September 2020, when she first reported the rape to police.

She told the operator she had known Kershaw for most of her life and how he had asked her out for drinks after talking at a party in December 2017.

The woman told the court how she later spent an evening with Kershaw in her home on January 23, after he turned up with chocolates and flowers after she lost her nan.

She alleged she woke to find Kershaw, who had asked to stay over, having sex with her.

Kershaw gave a completely different account - one the jury ultimately believed.

He described a date the couple shared at Piccolino in Chester where they both dined on lobster.

He went on to tell the court about another date at the Old Session House in Knutsford, and how they had sex for the first time afterwards when he stayed over at her house.

Kershaw denied raping the woman when he brought chocolates and flowers after her nan had died.