A student who was wrongly charged with rape has said men falsely accused of a sexual offence are also victims as he welcomed the move to force complainants to hand over their phones for disclosure purposes in such cases.

Liam Allan , then 22, went on trial in December 2017 facing 12 counts of rape and sexual assault. He had spent two years on bail and endured three days of trial before the case collapsed as it emerged his supposed victim had been pestering him for "casual sex".

Now, he says while it was "completely understandable" that rape complainants might not wish to hand over data, he insists that the move is "a good step as long as it's not trawling through unnecessary information".

"I was innocent," Mr Allan told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I was asked to give over my phone. Does that mean I lose all my rights to privacy because I was accused?

"But I'm innocent. I am now a victim because someone has made a horrible accusation."

He added that he was comfortable that the police may find things that will assist the prosecution, and they may find things that may help the defence when analysing a mobile phone.