No verdict reached in University Challenge rape trial

Bartholomeo Joly de Lotbiniere denied rape

A jury has failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a former University Challenge contestant accused of rape.

Bartholomeo Joly de Lotbiniere, 21, denied attacking the woman at York University in June 2014.

Jurors at York Crown Court were unable to reach a decision on charges of rape and indecent assault after ten hours of deliberation.

Judge Paul Batty QC gave the Crown Prosecution Service a week to decide whether to seek a retrial.

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The complainant said Mr Joly de Lotbiniere had gone into her room following a night out and then raped her as she tried to push him off.

She went to police after he had appeared on University Challenge in 2015.

Mr Joly de Lotbiniere, of Kensal Rise, London, claimed the incident was a "failed one-night stand".

He had told the jury he was sexually inexperienced at the time of the alleged attack.