Radio 4 presenter cleared of rape
BBC Radio 4 presenter Nigel Wrench was today cleared by a court of raping a man that he met at a New Years Eve party.
He was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting the 26-year-old after inviting him back to his flat in north London after meeting him at a New Years party.
The presenter of Radio 4’s PM programme admitted snorting cocaine with the man at a Kennigton party before taking him home to view his art collection.
The Old Bailey heard that Mr Wrench took cocaine with the 26-year-old man and then poured him a glass of champagne, which made him feel “not at all well.”
The jury were told that he suffered from “flashes of darkness” and “periods of blackness,” before finding himself naked on the Mr Wrench’s bed as the PM presenter put a pill into his mouth .
Mr Wrench admitted that they had engaged in what he called “boisterous horseplay” as well as consensual sex.
Judge Michael Shorrock ruled there was insufficient evidence for convictions.
Mr Wrench, of Haringey, north London, was also cleared of two other charges of sexual assault and administering the sleeping drug Temazepam.
Mr Wrench is well known both within the straight and LGBT community.
In 1998 he presented a powerful Radio 4 documentary, AIDS and Me about his experiences living with HIV and a later diagnosis of AIDS.
