Aggro Santos Acquitted Of Rape

Former I'm A Celebrity contestant Aggro Santos was found not guilty of raping two girls he had taken back to his hotel rooms after performing at gigs.

The jury at Chichester Crown Court acquitted the 24-year-old Brazilian-born rapper in less than two hours of both charges.

His friend and co-defendant Tyrelle Ritchie, 22, was also found not guilty of oral rape.

Both men broke down in tears as the jury foreman gave the verdicts.

The public gallery, filled with the men's families, erupted, forcing it to be cleared.

The pair had consistently denied the allegations and said the sex with the two women was consensual.

During the seven-day trial the jury heard Santos strenuously deny he had raped anyone.

When he was questioned by detectives over the alleged sex assault in Chichester, the musician told officers:

"I would never have done that.

"It goes against everything I have been brought up with, my morals and my pride."

The prosecution had alleged Santos forced a woman aged in her 20s to have sex with him after he performed at the opening of Club Soho in Yeovil, Somerset, on September 25 2010.

He was then accused of raping a then 16-year-old girl in 2011 after the University of Chichester summer ball while Ritchie, 22, was alleged to have forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Santos, who stood trial under his real name Yuri Santos, of Bickersteth Road, Tooting, south west London, denied two counts of rape.

Ritchie, of Vauxhall Street, Lambeth, south-east London, denied one count of oral rape.

Santos's debut single, Candy, featuring former Pussycat Dolls singer Kimberly Wyatt, shot to number five in the UK charts in 2010.

But he became more popularly known by his appearance in the 2010 series of ITV's reality game show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, in which he reached the final six.

This trial was a retrial after a jury last year failed to reach a verdict on the counts for both men.

Speaking after the end of the trial, Santos's lawyer Phil Smith said:

"My client is obviously delighted that the jury promptly have reached the right verdict.

"He now wishes to get on with his life, which has been on hold for two years."