Joseph Eubank found not guilty of raping teenager in Brighton
The judge said he needed to "reflect on what he did that night"
A 27-year-old man has been cleared of raping a teenage girl on Brighton beach.
Joseph Eubank, of Hove, was acquitted of two counts of rape of a 16-year-old girl by a jury after several hours of deliberating at Lewes Crown Court on Friday.
The court had heard how Eubank approached the teenager standing near the seafront because he was attracted to her and started a conversation on July 16, 2022.
The pair went to a dark, secluded part of the beach and Eubank told jurors during the trial what took place was "all very fluent and very consensual".
The prosecution had said that the girl had been drinking vodka with friends celebrating a birthday and had never been drunk like that before and "couldn't see straight".
But Eubank, who said he had not drunk alcohol that night, said "she looked completely sober" during their chat near the beach.
Following the acquittal, Judge Christine Laing KC told Eubank: "You need to reflect on what you did that night.
"It was not decent behaviour in any way shape or form."