A 40-year-old market trader has been acquitted by a court of raping a girl after meeting her in a Sheppey kebab shop.

Harris Patel was accused of abusing the 14-year-old in a single bed at a guest house as a young couple had sex nearby.

But he was cleared of rape and sexual assault charges after claiming there was no intimacy with the girl.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Patel was staying at a Sheppey guest house and was a regular at the takeaway.

The girl said that on July 19 last year she went to the guest house with the other couple, who proceeded to have sex.

Patel, she said, put on a video of the film The Mask. The other girl told her to get under the covers. She claimed that Patel kissed her and got on top of her and had intercourse with her. She said it was her first sexual experience with a man.

Patel said in evidence that after getting to the guest house, the girl asked him to take her to her home to ask her mother if she could stay out later than her 10.15pm curfew.

He did so and they returned to his room. They watched the video together and the other couple had sex.

Patel, from South Norwood, South East London, said he became embarrassed and said they should all go home, but the couple continued to make love.

He got into bed in his boxer shorts. The girl went to the bathroom, he said, returned with a towel around her and got on top of him. He pushed her off.

He said he told them to all get dressed and took them to Sheerness.