A former Britain’s Got Talent finalist who landed a lucrative record deal with Simon Cowell has been cleared of raping two women.
Andrew Johnston, 30, who competed as a singer on the television programme in 2008 when George Sampson was crowned winner, told the court he has ‘never sung a note’ since the allegations were made against him.
Johnston was charged with raping and sexually assaulting one woman and raping another, but he told Southwark Crown Court both women had told ‘a pack of lies’.
He described his lovemaking as ‘fast, energetic, maybe a bit passionate’ but said he was never aggressive, always used a condom and that the sex was consensual.
The jury of nine women and three men cleared him of all the charges.
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The alleged offences happened a number of years after Johnston shot to fame as a choirboy on the ITV show, Maryam Syed KC, prosecuting, told the jury previously.
Ms Syed said Johnston, of Carlisle, Cumbria, had been ‘engaging in consensual sexual activity’ with one of the women, but he allegedly removed his condom, and she ‘repeatedly told Mr Johnston to stop’ but he did not.
The other woman told police she engaged in consensual sex with the singer and asked him to use a condom.
The woman said she started to feel his hands around her neck and ‘no matter how many times she removed them’, he kept putting his hands back around her throat, Ms Syed said.
He then stopped and removed the condom, then carried on with the sex, it was alleged.
The singer, who was born in Dumfries, Scotland, but moved when he was about eight months old, released an album that went to number four in the UK charts and appeared on tour with other Britain’s Got Talent finalists.
He had denied the allegations throughout the trial.
Speaking outside the court, after the verdicts, Johnston said: ‘I’m just glad it’s over, it’s been super stressful.
‘It’s been five years of this, people doubting me, and I’ve not been able to say anything for five years, so I’ve only just been able to get my say and, thankfully, the right decision has been made, but I just want to go home now and see my dog.’
Asked what was next for him, Johnston said: ‘Get my life back. Slowly be rebuilding my life, because I’ve lost everything over this last five years.’
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