A mother has been cleared of sexually assaulting a woman who was asleep in her bed while she had sex with a man next to her.

Lucy Coleman was found not guilty of assault by penetration and causing actual bodily harm to a drinking partner after three adults ended up in bed together.

A court heard how a 'girls night in' ended in an angry brawl after the victim claimed she woke up to find her friend's hand between her legs as she was having sex in bed next to her.

Coleman, 34, who said the threesome had been consensual, sobbed in the dock at Maidstone Crown Court as jurors returned their not guilty verdicts today.

During the three-day trial the court heard the alleged victim, a mother-of-three who cannot be named for legal reasons, had spent the evening drinking vodka and lemonade with Miss Coleman.

She said the following morning after she had gone to sleep in her friend's bed and woke up mid-morning to find Miss Coleman, a mother-of-one, having sex with a man who had joined them at the flat in Edenbridge on October 10, 2015.

Hugh D'Aguilar, defending, told the court the threesome was consensual.

When Miss Coleman and the man - named only as Matt - went to bed the following morning and began having “loud sex” the third woman entered the room and began to fondle Miss Coleman's breast.

He said after the male friend "paid no attention" to the third woman she flew into a rage and launched an attack on Coleman - ripping out clumps of her hair.

Coleman, who had never had a threesome before, said the woman was jealous and she only defended herself in the fight.

Mr D'Aguilar told the court: "Too much attention was paid to Miss Coleman by the male which caused the woman's attitude to change.

“She felt she got jealous in the course of the sexual contact."