Rapist cleared of attack

A convicted rapist was cleared at Bristol Crown Court of a sex attack on a 19-year-old woman at her home in Cheltenham. After the verdict, the judge revealed that Stephan Cooke, 36, was serving a 10-year sentence, imposed in February, for rape and kidnap. In 1978, he was jailed for two years for assaulting a woman in South Wales, but was cleared of raping her.