Kerry footballer Mr Declan Quill was last night found not guilty of assaulting a young woman in her house in Killarney on the night of the All-Ireland semi-final with Meath last year.
The jury of nine men and three women reached a unanimous verdict after a deliberation of just under two hours on the second day of the trial at Tralee Circuit Court.
Mr Declan Quill (20), of Ashgrove, Ballyvelly, Tralee, said he had expected to have sex with Ms Orlaith Cussen (24), of Friary Downes, Killarney, after she had approached him in a nightclub on the evening of September 2nd/3rd and the two had got on very well.
However, he denied the charge of assault causing her harm.
They had hugged and kissed. Quill said he had around nine bottles of cider in the course of the day. He denied he was drunk. "I wasn't falling around the place," he said.
Ms Cussen had offered him a place to stay; she led the way upstairs to her bedroom where she put on red tartan fleecy pyjamas and took off her bra facing the door.
Mr Dave Sutton, barrister put it to Mr Quill that a girl in fleece pyjamas was not exactly "a hopeful sign".
Mr Quill said he was of a different age to Mr Sutton: "If a girl approaches you in a nightclub and shows you to her room and gets into bed, that's enough indication for me anyway," Mr Quill said.
Dr Elanor Johnson carried out a medical examination of Ms Cussen some hours after the alleged assault. She was distressed and crying. She had no cuts but had bruising on her left eye and her upper ear, and her front tooth was loose. She had suffered broken finger nails. There was tenderness on her chest and there were bruises on her stomach and a large bruise on her pelvic area, the medical statement read.
Mr John O'Sullivan, barrister for Mr Quill said it was a case "riddled with inconsistencies". It amounted to "a swearing match" depending on one man's word against another.
In his address to the jury, Judge Seán O'Leary said it would be wrong to have a tendency to cut Mr Quill down to size, because he was well known "for his endeavours in another area." "But it would be similarly wrong if because he was prominent in another area you excuse him in a way you wouldn't excuse others,"