Grammy-nominated rapper Slowthai has been cleared of raping two women at a house party after a gig.
The rapper, whose real name is Tyron Frampton, 29, and his co-accused Alex Blake-Walker, 27, were both cleared at Oxford Crown Court on Monday of three joint charges of rape against two women.
Blake-Walker was also cleared of an additional charge of sexual assault against the second complainant.
The jury returned the verdicts following more than ten hours of deliberation after a two-week trial during which it was alleged the two defendants assaulted two women in the early hours of September 8, 2021.
The musician burst into tears in the dock as jurors delivered their verdicts.
Judge Ian Pringle KC told the court this case has “raised a lot of high feelings”.
Relatives and friends of the accused, including Frampton’s wife Anne-Marie, sighed in relief as the verdicts were read out, and cheered loudly outside the courtroom.
Walking out of Oxford Crown Court alongside his wife, Frampton declined to comment on the verdicts.
Frampton had performed at The Bullingdon music venue in Oxford on the evening of September 7 2021 when they met the two complainants, one of whom was described during the trial as a “huge fan” of Slowthai.
Following the gig, the two complainants went to Frampton’s tour bus before heading to their friend’s house for a party – with Frampton and Blake-Walker joining the group.
Frampton, Blake-Walker, and the two complainants then went on to the roof of the property, where the women claimed they were raped.
Frampton, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton, and Blake-Walker, of Wallbutton Road, south-east London, both agreed that sexual activity took place with the complainants on the night of the alleged assaults, but told the court that it was consensual.
In his evidence to the jury, the rapper said the allegations brought up against him were “just not true” and that the women were “lying”.
Frampton accepted that he and Blake-Walker had “fist-bumped” at the time but denied this was encouraging each other.
The pair both walked free from the dock after Judge Ian Pringle KC told them they were able to go.
