A MAN acquitted of rape has been told to stay away from his alleged victim and another prosecution witness.

The jury at York Crown Court took half-an-hour to return their unanimous verdict of not guilty at the end of the five-day trial.

John Terence Ellison, 45, of no fixed address, had denied raping a woman in a York hostel.

Following the verdict, the prosecution asked for a restraining order banning him indefinitely from contacting either her or Kevin Trousdale directly or indirectly or going near the hostel. Mr Ellison did not object.

Mr Trousdale, who was a lodger at the hostel, alleged during the trial that he heard the woman shout “no” when she and Mr Ellison were having sex.

The jury were not told how in 2011 in York, Mr Ellison was jailed for three years for knocking a woman unconscious causing her actual bodily harm in a fit of jealousy over a text message, threatening a fellow lodger and kicking his landlord.

Nor were they told about Mr Ellison’s previous conviction for rape in Middlesbrough for which he served a prison sentence.

But they were told that Mr Ellison had previous convictions for assaulting women in the North East, one of whom was 18, and causing actual bodily harm to two elderly men, including a 77-year-old man in the York area in 2009.

During the York trial, the woman claimed they were having consensual sex, but he then forced her to have sex in a way she did not want.

Mr Ellison did not give evidence, but the jury heard a statement he gave to police on his arrest in which he claimed all the sex acts between the two were consensual.

The jury also heard that the woman had suffered mental health problems before the alleged rape, though a psychiatrist who saw her on the day of the alleged rape declared that she was well and taking medication to prevent mental health problems.

They also heard that Mr Trousdale drank most of the day.

Defence barrister Steven Crossley told the jury they were not credible witnesses.