NI: Belfast rugby players’ rape trial ends in acquittal
![NI: Belfast rugby players' rape trial ends in acquittal](https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f3db92458376702a006e7c0d9/images/1ed06c79-7393-40e9-a135-9b99d91e95a4.jpg)
The nine-week trial of Ireland and Ulster rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding on rape charges has ended in acquittal.
The verdict was reached unanimously by a jury of eight men and three women this afternoon.
The jury deliberated for three hours and 40 minutes on the charges, which related to an alleged rape at a house in south Belfast in 2016.
Fellow rugby players Blane McIlroy, who was accused of exposure, and Rory Harris, who was accused of perverting the course of justice and withholding information, have also been found not guilty.
Judge Patricia Smyth told the jury the high-profile trial was probably the most difficult for any jury in Northern Ireland’s history.