THE man accused of raping a woman in her home almost a year ago was found guilty by the Royal Court. The 12 Jurats were unanimous in the verdict against Richard Barnes, 29, of no fixed address.

They deliberated for 75 minutes at the end of a five-day trial.

The verdict drew gasps from his friends and family in the gallery while he appeared to remain calm. He will have to wait at least three weeks before sentencing while a probation report is compiled.

Deputy Bailiff Geoff Rowland said that it was a most serious matter and that a custodial sentence was likely. He remanded him in custody immediately.

Barnes had spent seven weeks in custody after the incident last year but had been on open remand with conditions since mid-July.

He had denied raping the woman between 5.30am and 6am on 31 May 2003 in the house she shared with her fiance.

Barnes was a trainee stonemason at the time. After finishing work one Friday, he had drunk approximately 10 pints of lager before taking a taxi home about midnight.

He gatecrashed a party and went swimming in the pool but left when he was asked to do so.

A policeman on patrol saw him walking to his home at about 1.10am.

There he changed his clothes before returning to the party, only to go into the wrong house.

He walked straight upstairs past the lounge where the woman’s fiance was asleep on the sofa, opened a door, removed his top, jeans and trainers and jumped into bed.

He fell asleep straightaway and when he woke up the next morning the room was light and he saw a naked woman beside him.

The woman, who had been drunk the night before and had been put to bed by her fiance, said that she woke up to find Barnes on top of her, having sex with her.

She said she shouted ‘who the hell are you, what are you doing, get off,’ and pushed him twice.

Immediately after the act, she went downstairs into the lounge shouting to her fiance that there was a man upstairs who had had sex with her and she thought it was the fiance.

Barnes claimed in court that he had woken up with his arm over the woman, they had started touching each other before foreplay and sexual intercourse.

He said that the woman was half-asleep initially but had opened her eyes several times during the incident.

Once she had left the room, he got dressed and went downstairs, where he was met by the woman’s fiance who asked if he had had sex with his ‘wife’. The fiance said that Barnes started hyperventilating and scratching his head before darting out of the door.

Barnes went home to bed and was arrested later that day.

Evidence showed that sexual intercourse had occurred but there was no evidence of bruising or marks to either party or internal injuries to the woman.

Crown Advocate Graeme McKerrell said that her shouting and trying to push him off were clear indications that the woman was not consenting to sex.

Barnes, defended by Advocate Peter Ferbrache, will not be sentenced before 7 June.