A FATHER-OF-THREE wept tears of joy after being cleared of rape yesterday.

Waad Namek was acquitted of two counts of rape by jurors at Oxford Crown Court.

The 36-year-old always denied abusing a Romanian woman at his flat in Owens Way, Cowley, in October 2010.

The satellite television repairman, an Iraqi-born British citizen, told jurors during the four-day trial the pair twice had consensual sex that she initiated.

Speaking after the verdict, a tearful Mr Namek said of his wait to clear his name: “I was feeling very bad because I’m a single father.

“I could not sleep. Every day I’m crying for my children because I didn’t do any of those things.

“I was scared for a year and a half. I lost all my energy.”

Mr Namek praised his friends and legal team for their support and thanked the six men and six women of the jury for their consideration of the case.

The trial heard Mr Namek was laughed at by a policeman and a solicitor during his initial police interview, but he said the trial had restored his faith in the justice system.

He added: “Today I am happy, I can see my boys. I can start my life again.”