Scots BGT finalist will 'rebuild' life after being cleared of rape charges

A FORMER Britain’s Got Talent finalist sobbed in the dock as a jury cleared him of raping two women.

- By Paul Jeeves

Andrew Johnston, 30, originally from Dumfries, who came third in the final of the hit ITV show at the age of 13, had been accused of gripping the women’s throats and refusing to wear a condom in their sexual encounters.

The alleged rapes were said to have happened when ex-choirboy Mr Johnston was studying for an opera diploma at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music.

Mr Johnston denied the offences and told Southwark Crown Court his accusers had told “a pack of lies”.

Yesterday, as a jury of nine women and three men acquitted him of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault, he held his head in his hands and sobbed.

Outside court, Mr Johnston said he had “lost everything” but would now be “slowly rebuilding” his life. He said: “I’m just glad it’s over, it’s been super stressful.