Mark Pearson bears the crumpled expression of a man who has just emerged from a protracted period of darkness, yet can barely summon the enthusiasm required to readjust to the light.

On Friday, after a three-day trial at Blackfriars Crown Court, he was acquitted of sexually assaulting an award-winning actress - who for legal reasons cannot be named - while crossing paths with her during evening rush hour on the concourse of Britain’s busiest train station.

“My brain is one big jelly at the moment,” says the 51-year-old artist and picture framer, cutting a somewhat forlorn figure beside his partner, Carol Ho, 41, at their kitchen table in Bromley by Bow, east London.

Though he has come through this half-second-turned-whole-year of hell with his reputation entirely intact, it has taken a terrible tarnishing - and the whole process had subjected him to a clear physical and mental toll.

Pearson’s bewilderment at his predicament is made all the worse because he believes his case should never have reached court – not even got close.