Police officer Martyn Coulter cleared of rape charges

A police officer has been cleared of raping a woman and a young girl and assaulting another child.

Martyn Coulter, 36, was accused of assaulting and raping the woman in Dunbar in 2013 and in Edinburgh the same year.

He was also accused of raping and sexually assaulting a girl from September 2013 to November 2014.

A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh took three hours to acquit the suspended policeman of all charges.

Mr Coulter sobbed as the verdict was delivered.

He left the court surrounded by family members and made no comment to waiting reporters.

It has yet to be established whether he will return to his role as constable following his acquittal.

Mr Coulter had denied raping and assaulting a woman and a six-year-old child.

During the seven-day trial, the court heard evidence about the alleged incidents.

But there were no concrete dates agreed on when the incidents were said to have taken place.

Mr Coulter's defence agent, Ian Duguid KC, presented evidence to the trial showing Mr Coulter's whereabouts on 23 September 2013 including Google maps, timelines, bank statements and social media posts.

The court was also shown records of Mr Coulter's army training records, which revealed he was on a training course between 6 and 21 September that year.

A woman told the court on 6 February she could not recall the exact date, but said she went to Mr Coulter's flat at lunchtime on or around 23 September 2013 to celebrate the news he was going on a tour of duty of Afghanistan with the Territorial Army.

She told the court he had wanted to have sex with her to celebrate, but she told him she did not want to because she did not have time. She alleged he then raped her.

But the court heard that she appeared to have gone on a night out with Mr Coulter that evening.

She also told the court she could not remember the night in question as it was 10 years ago.

The witness, however, insisted she could not remember being with him on the date in question.

Mr Duguid put it to the witness that Mr Coulter had not received a letter that he would be deployed to Afghanistan in September, and had actually been told in November he would be sent for a maximum of 12 weeks due to being in the Territorial Army.

Mr Coulter was suspended from Police Scotland as a result of the accusations.