A FOOTBALLER arrested for rape as he prepared to play for his Hampshire club has been cleared of attacking a woman in a pub garden.
Brian Dutton, 22, a central defender for Blue Square South side Eastleigh at the time of his arrest, was cleared at Swansea Crown Court of rape and indecent assault.
Dutton, of Danebury Place, Stockbridge, had always denied the allegations, made by an 18-year-old woman he met at a pub in a village near Swansea in October this year.
He was arrested as he lined up for Eastleigh to face Weston-super-Mare, but was subsequently sacked by the club for drinking on the night before a game. Dutton now plays for Dorchester Town.
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