Former Commons deputy speaker is found not guilty of raping student and sexually assaulting six other men

The former Commons deputy speaker Nigel Evans has spoken of his "11 months of hell" after he was cleared of raping a university student and sexually assaulting six other men over a 10-year period.

The Tory MP for the Lancashire seat of Ribble Valley was found not guilty of all nine counts following a five-week trial at Preston crown court, where he was accused of abusing his power to sexually assault young Commons workers between 2003 and March last year.

There were sobs and shouts of "yes" from the public gallery as the verdicts were read. Speaking from the court steps he thanked his legal team and said: "Nothing will ever be the same again."

The verdict turned the spotlight on the prosecution system, with MP allies of Evans claiming the prosecuters now had questions to answer. David Davis, the Tory MP and a former shadow home secretary, called for an urgent overhaul of the way sexual offences are prosecuted in the light of Evans's acquittal.

"This case has highlighted serious concerns over how the police and the Crown Prosecution Service bring sexual offence cases to court," he said. "In particular we must now review the process whereby the police and the Crown Prosecution Service put together a large number of lesser, subsidiary cases in order to reinforce one serious case when prosecuting sexual offences.

"It is clear from the way that this case proceeded that there is a risk of a serious injustice being done to an innocent man, and I would call on the attorney general to urgently review this issue."

One of the alleged victims in the trial told ITV news in the wake of the verdict: "I don't believe he [Evans] should have been charged. I don't think it was a criminal act. It's the sort of thing that happens in every bar. It wasn't a big deal."

Evans has maintained his innocence since his high-profile arrest last May, insisting that the alleged incidents simply did not happen or were the result of misread signals. The most damaging allegation – of rape – was in fact consensual sex, the MP said.

Throughout the five-week trial, Evans and his eclectic group of supporters – including the former Tory MP Edwina Currie and Coronation Street actor Vicky Entwistle – listened as the prosecution accused the 56-year-old MP of abusing his power and sexually assaulting men half his age in settings including Commons bars and the Conservative party conference.

But it was in his constituency home in Pendleton, Lancashire, where Evans was alleged to have raped a 21-year-old student following a dinner party last March.

In the witness box, Evans appeared on the verge of tears as he spoke of the "absolute hell" of the trial and insisted that the encounter was entirely consensual.

His barrister, Peter Wright QC, pointed to a series of inconsistencies between what the student told officers and what he told the jury – there was no pushing on to the bed, no forcible undoing of trousers, no struggle to push his attacker off. In fact the truth was the young man had consented to have sex with a man more than twice his age, jurors were told.

Wright added: "In the cold light of day, the complainant may regret what had taken place and how far it had actually gone. But such sentiments are some considerable distance removed from an incident of sexual assault and rape. He gave every indication of consent. Now he seeks to turn the clock back.

"Saving his conscience is not the basis on which to convict a man of rape and sexual assault."

Throughout the five-week trial, Evans listened as lurid details of his long, private struggle with his sexuality were outlined to jurors, who also heard about the MP's tendency to drink heavily while socialising with young parliamentary workers in Commons bars and at the Swan With Two Necks, the village pub next to his constituency home.

Evans told the court he decided to announce himself as gay in a Mail on Sunday article in 2010 because he was tired of "living a lie". The Swansea-born MP said he had known he was gay since before he entered parliament, in 1992, but had a long period of celibacy before actively seeking sexual relationships in the early 2000s. In 2003, it was claimed that Evans indecently assaulted two men in their 20s when he approached them in public places while drunk and put his hand down their trousers – one in a Soho bar and the other at a hotel during the 2003 Tory party conference.

Wright, for Evans, said: "We say these earlier alleged incidents did not amount to much then and do not do so now."

They showed a "drunken overfamiliarity" – not what the prosecution "thesis" alleges – the actions of a powerful, "career-making and breaking" politician abusing his position. "They are a high watermark of over-friendly, inappropriate behaviour by a drunken man, rather than the ingredients of an indecent assault," Wright added.

In the MP's defence, the jury heard character references from more than 30 witnesses, including three Commons deputy speakers and the Tory MPs Eleanor Laing and John Whittingdale, who described Evans as a "well-liked", "scrupulously fair" and "hard-working" MP.

Evans resigned as Commons deputy speaker last September when the CPS announced he was to be charged. In court, the Ribble Valley MP said the trial had ruined any prospect of him becoming the Commons Speaker.

Detective superintendent Ian Critchley, of Lancashire constabulary, said the force remained committed to investigating allegations of sexual assault "no matter what the role, position and status of the alleged offender".

Speaking outside court, Critchley said: "Whenever anyone takes the brave step to come forward to the police, or provides evidence to such an investigation making serious allegations of a sexual nature, it is absolutely right that we carry out a professional investigation into all such reports.

"While these allegations were made against a public figure, we have been committed throughout to investigating this matter in the same professional and victim-focussed way that we would all such allegations. We also recognise the personal impact such proceedings have on Mr Evans and have sought throughout to ensure the investigation is conducted in a fair, professional and proportionate way."

He added that the case was put before court following careful scrutiny and only when prosecutors believed there was "sufficient evidence to justify a realistic prospect of conviction".

A CPS spokesperson said: "The complainants in this case provided clear accounts of the alleged offending and it was right that all of the evidence was put before a jury. That evidence could only be fully explored during a trial and the jury has decided, after hearing all of the evidence, that the prosecution has not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. We respect this decision."