A MAN has been cleared of charges of rape and false imprisonment following a trial at Dorchester Crown Court.

Louay Elamin, 32, had pleaded not guilty to two charges of rape and two counts of false imprisonment relating to an incident in Weymouth on March 20, 2009.

He denied accusations that he locked a 28-year-old woman in his then home and forced her to perform a sexual act.

Mr Elamin, now of Seven Kings Road, Ilford in London, also denied beating a man who knocked on the door during the incident and leaving him tied up while he raped the woman in the next room.

Following an eight-day trial, the jury found Mr Elamin not guilty of all four charges and he was acquitted.