Lorry driver cleared over rape charges

A LORRY driver has been acquitted of abducting and raping a woman, as it emerged she had a string of fraud convictions.

The Crown dropped all charges against James McKeown, 50, after just one day at the High Court in Livingston.

McKeown, of Addiewell, West Lothian, had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. The woman, originally from Manchester, admitted she had a string of convictions.

She denied having consensual sex with the accused before falling out and calling 999 to tell police that he had raped her.

Defence solicitor advocate Jim Keegan said: "Is it not the case that everything was going well until he caught you rifling through his possessions and stealing his money?" She replied: "No."