English rapper Slowthai, aka Tyron Frampton, has been found not guilty of raping two women at a house party in Oxford in 2021.
The rapper, 29, and his co-accused, Alex Blake-Walker, 27, were cleared of three joint counts of rape by a jury at at Oxford crown court this morning, December 16: Blake-Walker was also found not guilty of a charge of sexual assault.
It was alleged that the two men had met the two women before a Slowthai gig at the the Bullingdon, in Oxford, in September 2021. and had subsequently been invited to one of the women's homes following the show.
Frampton was accused of raping one woman twice at the encouragement of Blake-Walker, and it was alleged that he encouraged Blake-Walker to rape the second woman. Frampton told the court that he had engaged in sexual activity with the woman but said she had given consent.
The rapper, who was accompanied at court by his wife, English pop star Anne-Marie, declined to comment on the case after being found not guilty. In his closing statement to the jury last week, Frampton's defence lawyer had stated that even if the rapper was cleared on all charges, “he’ll be cancelled for the rest of time”.
The jury, composed of eight men and four women, reached its verdicts after 10 hours of deliberation. As the verdicts were delivered, Frampton broke down in tears.
Slowthai was dropped from the Reading/Leeds and Glastonbury festival bills in 2023 after the charges against him were made public.
