A FORMER Queensland policeman has been found not guilty of raping a woman in the back of a squad car while he was on duty.

Trent Christopher Birthisel, 31, was accused of assaulting the then 20-year-old after she asked for a ride home from a night out in Mackay in 2014.

The former constable exhaled heavily as a jury found him not guilty of rape and sexual assault charges in the Mackay District Court on Thursday.

The woman who had made the allegations cried in the public gallery.

During the trial, the court heard the woman told a friend she’d been raped by two officers.

“I’ve been f***ing raped by two coppers,” a friend of the woman recalled her saying.

“She wanted it to be over and done with because she didn’t know whether they were going to kill her or not.”

A second policeman was originally charged over the incident but was cleared of allegations last year.

Crown Prosecutor Belinda Merrin said the intoxicated woman complied with requests for sex in the early hours of a Sunday morning because she was intimidated by Birthisel’s authority in the situation.

She also argued Birthisel couldn’t have reasonably believed the woman was consenting when he initiated sexual contact in the presence of his patrol partner, Rudy Clarence Nonis.

But the defence argued the woman was an “enthusiastic” partner to the acts.

Barrister Stephen Zillman suggested the former topless waitress was no “shrinking violet” and could have made up the rape claims because she started believing she’d acted like a “common slut”.

He told the court Mr Nonis’ testimony that the pair had been kissing, flirting and giggling was evidence of consent.

As was evidence the woman shared pinky promises about keeping the acts a secret, he said.

The court heard Mr Nonis, who had been hearing noises consistent with oral sex, parked near a bridge after the woman asked to be taken somewhere darker.

He then walked away and smoked numerous cigarettes before returning to see Birthisel pulling up his pants, the court heard.

Mr Zillman pointed out the woman had testified she said “I wonder what it’s like to be handcuffed” after Birthisel had put her hand on his penis and started rubbing her thigh.

He said the woman’s phone number was found in the officer’s notebook despite her saying she gave him a fake one.

Ms Merrin admitted accounts from the woman’s friends and family were inconsistent but argued that didn’t necessarily mean her client had lied to them.

Outside court, Birthisel said he was happy the events of the last two years were over.

He was chastised by a local woman who yelled, “Is that what they teach you at the academy?” and “disgusting” as he left.

Birthisel went to trial facing five counts of rape but the judge downgraded one after finding there was not evidence to support it. He has resigned from the police force and Mr Nonis now works as a production supervisor.