A builder accused of raping a travel agent in a car park nearly 10 years ago has been cleared after insisting she consented. Curtis Anthony Chrissafi, 30, had been accused of taking advantage of the tipsy 20-year-old as she waited for a night bus in north

A builder accused of raping a travel agent in a car park nearly 10 years ago has been cleared after insisting she consented.

Curtis Anthony Chrissafi, 30, had been accused of taking advantage of the tipsy 20-year-old as she waited for a night bus in north London in 1998.

After claiming he knew a short cut to the woman's home in Alexandra Palace, Chrissafi led her to a deserted car park where he pushed her against a wall and raped her, the court heard.

But giving evidence, the father-of-one said the woman had fully consented to sex and had even touched his private parts first. "When I departed everything was fine. There were no tears, no violence from me towards her," he said.

An Old Bailey jury cleared Chrissafi, of Leven Drive, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, last Thursday after just a few hours of deliberation.

The alleged victim told jurors how she had been drinking after work in Wood Green on July 25 1998. She then decided to take the bus home from Alexandra Avenue after closing time.

She agreed to take a short cut with Chrissafi and said: "He raped me. He forced me to have sex when I said no."

But Chrissafi said: "We were kissing and entered the car park. There was more kissing and things proceeded from there.

"We were both up against the wall. We proceeded to go down to the floor. She was undoing her buttons on the top half of her clothing. If she did say no I wouldn't have done it. She did not give any sign to me she didn't want this to happen.

"Afterwards, we proceeded to walk towards the entrance to the car park. I crossed over to the bus stop. I thought she was walking towards Alexandra Palace.

"The last time I saw her was when we were standing up and I was walking towards the entrance."

Chrissafi denied the woman was hysterical and said: "It is not in my nature to leave someone upset."

Police matched his DNA when he was prosecuted for theft three years later. But officers lost track of the young dad and he was not located again until March 2007.