ben freemanFormer Emmerdale star Ben Freeman has been cleared of raping a girl after a case lasting nearly two years.

The actor was arrested in Barbados in December 2006 after an incident with a then-16 year old British girl at a luxury holiday resort.

Ben was initially not allowed to leave the island but then allowed to return to the UK to await his trial, which finally took place last week.

Speaking after the verdict on Friday, Ben told the Mirror: “When the jury forewoman said, ‘Not guilty’, I obviously felt enormous relief and it still hasn’t properly sunk in.

“It’s what I’ve been looking forward to for two nightmarish years.”

But he explained he’s not “happy” about the verdict: “I’m not really feeling happiness. My feelings are a mixture of anger, joy and relief. I’m angry because I was accused of rape in the first place and I never did it.

“At the time, things happened so fast - I was accused, arrested, charged and a statement was taken all in a matter of hours. I couldn’t believe what was happening to me. Everything in my life was falling apart and it was all based on lies. It was complete horror.

“I was being treated like a criminal for the first time. Rape is the most horrendous thing to be accused of. You live by your reputation and then suddenly someone is calling you a rapist and the whole world knows about it. When you are accused of it as a well-known figure it is magnified a hundred times. It is true to say I’ve lost two years of my life.

“I don’t absolve myself from all guilt. I didn’t do anything illegal - but it was very stupid. Having sex with a girl aged 16 in an open place was naive and immature. It was a very bad decision. It was a mistake with enormous consequences for me and so many others.”

Ben left the soap shortly after the incident but his character Scott Windsor will now return after “staying with a friend” in the Army for the last two years.

Ben added that he’s looking forward to going back to work and his £100,000 a year salary: “A man prides himself on earning a living and I couldn’t do that while this was hanging over me. I had a house with no mortgage on it in Leeds and now it is mortgaged to the hilt to pay for my defence costs, which have come to £200,000. I am skint.

“There have been times when I just felt like a monster and people in the street would pull children away from me, saying, ‘Don’t go near that man’. On the other hand, a lot of fans have been fantastic sending me letters of support and even coming up to me in the street to wish me well.”