A Sydney jury has acquitted a former TV producer of raping a drunk woman in his home after a night out drinking and snorting cocaine.
Thomas Joseph Nicol, 33, had pleaded not guilty to raping a woman he knew at his Bondi home in January 2021.
The woman said she'd awoken during the night to Mr Nicol kneeling over her before he raped her and she froze.
But Mr Nicol said the pair engaged in consensual sexual touching after they went to his home to find her lost phone.
After about two hours of deliberation, the Sydney District Court jury on Monday returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty.
Mr Nicol's family embraced him as he left the dock.
The woman told the jury last week she couldn't recall getting in an Uber with Mr Nicol to his place and awoke to him kneeling over her touching her in bed.
She said she froze during the assault, fell asleep and then caught an Uber in tears about 7am, telling the inquisitive Uber driver she felt she'd been raped.
She repeated the allegation to her housemate, and later police.
"This was not just a regrettable sexual encounter, she clearly associated this as a breach of trust," prosecutor Emilija Beljic told the jury in her closing address.
Defence barrister Phillip Boulten SC said the alleged victim had always been confused about what occurred, locking herself into a belief of rape.
"(They) engaged in sexual activity that was, probably for both of them, entirely regrettable, that it was messy both physically and personally, and there's a very real chance she has structured her belief after the event because she feels entirely regrettable about what happened," Mr Boulten said in his closing address.
The jury had heard from former housemates of Mr Nicol who spoke highly of him.
"He's loyal and trustworthy ... I haven't felt more comfortable with a man than with Tom," former housemate Hannah Hanfy said.
Another housemate, Alice Flanagan, told the court. "Tom is, in the whole time I've known him, trustworthy. I think he's empathetic. I think he reads other people's emotions and tries to help them through life."
The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes on Thursday afternoon before resuming about 10am on Monday. The verdict was delivered about 10.50am.
Mr Nicol was previously employed on the Nine Network's Today show as a supervising producer, according to his profile on LinkedIn.
