A RUSSIAN man has been cleared of raping a teenager as she slept.

The jury at Bournemouth Crown Court took three hours and 40 minutes to find the 44-year-old not guilty on Wednesday.

Vladzimar Rybak, now of Yarmouth Road, Branksome, admitted having sex with the girl but claimed it was "consensual".

The architect told the court earlier in the week that he had offered to give the girl a massage after she had showed him her body piercings.

He "straddled" her body and massaged her for half an hour. When he asked her if she liked it, she replied "yes", he told the court.

Rybak denied he had raped the girl and said that he kept asking her if she was okay and she replied "yes".

The girl claimed that Rybak had visited her flat for coffee and that she fell asleep as he gave her a massage.

She told the court that when she awoke her underwear had been removed and the lower part of her body felt sore, leading her to believe she had been raped.

Forensic evidence suggested that Rybak had sex with the girl.

The jury heard that Rybak had served two years in prison in his native Belarus as a political prisoner.

During his time in prison Rybak had his leg broken, teeth knocked out, chlorine put on his hands and shots fired next to his right ear.

As a result of his treatment in jail, Rybak was left with only 70 per cent vision in his right eye.

First published: Sept 9