Sherman Ip allegedly forced a woman on to his bed in his flat and pulled off her clothes

A former Oxford University PhD student accused of raping a woman is set to walk free after a second jury failed to reach a verdict.

Statistician Sherman Ip, 25, allegedly forced the woman on to his bed in his London flat and pulled off her clothes before raping her on 14 May 2013.

But Ip told jurors 'she consented' and said he thought 'everything was normal' when they had sex at her parents' house the following day.

The woman, who cannot be identified, claimed she fled Ip's flat in tears after being raped.

Southwark Crown Court heard she sent Ip a private Facebook message saying what happened was 'semi-rape' and pressed charges in October 2014 after receiving a text from him saying: 'I am really sorry for raping you.'

But Ip told jurors he sent the apology because: 'I wanted to get [her] back and I would do anything to get back with her.'

Two juries have now failed to reach a verdict on a single charge of rape at Southwark Crown Court.

Ip is unlikely to face a third trial but prosecutors are expected to make a final decision within a week.

He has a masters degree in Physics from University College London and in 2015 moved to Oxford University for the first year of his PhD as part of the Oxford Warwick Statistics Programme.

The 25-year-old sent a text message to the victim the said: 'I am really sorry for raping you'

Ip, who is now studying at Warwick, told the court the woman came to his flat in Euston Square, because she 'wanted to talk' on 14 May 2013, but they ended up having consensual sex.

Ip told the court: 'She said "let's have sex" and then she sat on the bed, laid on the bed.'

Prosecutor David Povall asked: 'And this was all, the two of you had sex and everything was alright was it?'

'Everything was normal,' replied Ip.

He said the woman became jealous when he told her about his relationship with another girl.

Two separate juries have now failed to reach a verdict on Ip's rape charge and he is unlikely to be charged a third time

Ip said they talked about it before having sex at her parents' house on 15 May 2013.

Mr Povall said: 'I suggest that your reason for doing that is to try to say that she was lying about being raped the day before.'

Ip replied: 'I wouldn't have made up that event on the 15th... she wanted to have sex with me.'

Ip, of Burcot Gardens, Maidenhead, Berkshire, denied rape.