A YOUNG Bournemouth man unanimously cleared of double rape has told the Daily Echo: "I'm so glad my nightmare is over."

It took a jury just two hours to clear Jonathan Wedge, 23, of two counts of rape.

And afterwards, the former Bournemouth University student said he was looking forward to putting the ordeal behind him and getting on with his life.

He said: "It's just fantastic. This has been a bad year for me and I'm just glad it's over now."

Mr Wedge, of Wheaton Road in Pokesdown, could have deferred his university exams in psychology and computing when he was charged with rape in April but instead chose to continue and successfully achieved his degree in the summer.

He said: "I was going to quit but it was only a few months before my exams and I thought 'I've just got to keep going through it'. It's been a nightmare and now I just want to put it behind me."

And Mr Wedge's delighted mother said: "The court case has been absolutely dreadful.

"There's no stigma against those girls because they are not named but my son has been dragged through it all.

"But we're not bitter and are just glad that we have got the right result."

Mr Wedge admitted having consensual oral sex with a woman he met at Elements nightclub last August but maintained it was a mistake that saw him end up in the wrong bedroom, where her two friends were sleeping. He placed himself between the two women and kissed one of them and then had sex with the other.

Following the verdict, the mother of one of the girls said she was "shocked" he had not been convicted.

She said: "My daughter is a normal fun-loving teenager who was having a night out with friends and decided to sleep over instead of going home alone in a cab."

First published: Sept 6