Hounslow detective Shahzad Malik cleared of rape

A trainee detective has been cleared of raping a woman at police accommodation after prosecutors offered no evidence.

Shahzad Malik, 31, who was based at west London's Hounslow police station, was charged after a woman made contact with him via website SingleMuslim.com.

He was also charged with two counts of sexual assault, but following an investigation these were also dropped.

Mr Malik had arranged to meet for a coffee in Chiswick, west London in January, the Old Bailey heard.

Instead they went to a disused police section house where "sexual acts took place", the jury heard.

'Great care'

The woman reported the alleged incident to police two days later.

Kaly Kaul, prosecuting, said an e-mail sent by the woman before the incident had been "unclear in its content as to what her intentions had been at the time".

Susannah Stevens, defending, said it was "unfortunate" that it had taken "this amount of time" before the trainee was cleared.

"The defendant, of course, because of his occupation, does understand how the process works," she added.

Judge Peter Rook said: "Cases of this nature need to be considered with great care."