Marvin Humes has said his former JLS bandmate Oritse Williams’ ‘three years of hell’ are over after he was found not guilty of rape.
Oritse, 32, was today cleared of rape after being accused of raping a 20-year-old waitress at a Wolverhampton hotel in December 2016.
After the verdict was confirmed, Marvin, 34, took to Instagram to praise how his friend ‘conducted himself’ during the trial.
Along with a photo, Marvin – who has two daughters with wife Rochelle Humes – wrote: ‘C leared..Not Guilty! Finally my brother @oritsemusic three years of hell is over! No-one will ever know or imagine what he’s been through..
‘I’m just so proud of the way he conducted himself during what has been the most awful time..he is so strong and I know he can’t wait to start his life again now..We love you O.’
Capital Breakfast host Sonny Jay commented: ‘So pleased for him!’ while DJ Rickie Haywood-Williams wrote: ‘That’s what I’m talking about.’
On 24 May, the jury retired to consider their verdict, and today they returned their verdict of not guilty.
The jury, made up of eight women and four men, deliberated for two hours and 17 minutes before reaching its unanimous verdicts.
Oritse smiled and said ‘thank you’ towards the judge after being told he could leave Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Williams’ friend and tour manager Jamien Nagadhana, 32, was found not guilty of sexual assault by touching and assault by penetration.
The former popstar denied behaving like a ‘sexual predator’ during the week-long trial, as he claimed a consensual sexual encounter had occured with the complainant at the Ramad Park Hall hotel in December 2016 and that he was being ‘taken advantage of’ because of his boyband fame.
On 20 May, the jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Williams’ police interview in which he said: ‘The girl said she wanted to spend the night with me, I said no problem, we started making out.
‘I pulled out a condom for safe sex as I’m ambassador for safe sex, because of the alcohol I couldn’t perform too well, which is embarrassing to say.
‘We lay down and fell asleep and I can remember waking up to a knock at the door, it was the girl and she was with a male member of staff.
‘She said she wanted to look for her phone. She left and then I woke again in the morning to a knock at the door and it was the police.’
The police interview also detailed how he responded when he told about the allegations made by the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Williams went on: ‘I am feeling bewildered at this whole thing. I do feel taken advantage of. I just feel like a musician, an artist that has been put into a position where they have been taken advantage of.’
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MORE: JLS star Oritse Williams found not guilty of raping 20-year-old waitress