The case against Connor Fitzgerald collapsed when prosecutors found the messages sent by the woman accusing him of rape

A teenager suspected of rape spent three months in custody because police did not disclose text messages that proved his innocence, he has claimed.

BT engineer Connor Fitzgerald, 19, was arrested last year after a complaint was made against him.

But charges were dropped only last week when it emerged that the complainant, who is entitled to lifelong anonymity, had sent texts threatening to destroy him.

One of the messages apparently read: 'I'm not just going to mess up his life, I'm going to ruin it lol [laugh out loud].'

The case is the latest in a string of investigations or trials that have collapsed after police failed to disclose vital evidence to defence lawyers.

Mr Fitzgerald, from South Norwood, south London, told The Sun: 'It's been heartbreaking. It felt like I was guilty until proven innocent. My life has been ruined. I'm scared to even leave the house because everyone thinks I'm a rapist.'

It comes after Scotland Yard apologised to Liam Allan for failing to provide vital text messages during the 22-year-old's rape trial, in which he was found not guilty.

Charges were dropped only last week when it emerged that the complainant (in grey), who is entitled to lifelong anonymity, had sent texts threatening to destroy Mr Fitzgerald (in blue)

Mr Fitzgerald was arrested in front of his mother and sister in November when police officers raided the family home. It followed a complaint that a woman made in June.

She alleged Mr Fitzgerald raped her after a drunken night out.

After the arrest he was denied bail and was instead held on remand at HMP High Down, which is a category B prison in Banstead, Surrey.

He was reprieved after Mr Fitzgerald's brother found some of the text messages from the woman on his iCloud account and informed the authorities.

The case comes after Scotland Yard apologised to Liam Allan (pictured yesterday) for failing to provide vital text messages during the 22-year-old's rape trial, in which he was found not guilty

The missing texts also showed the woman saying that she had enjoyed the sex.

How failure to disclose evidence has led to a series of collapsed sex offence cases The issue of disclosure of evidence has been at the centre of a series of sex offence trials which have collapsed in recent months. The CPS offered no evidence against Oliver Mears It emerged last week that more than 900 criminal cases were dropped last year due to a failure by police or prosecutors to disclose evidence. The series of failures led former Lord Chief Justice, Igor Judge, to warn that juries may start to think they have not been shown all the evidence, and victims to not come forward. In December, Isaac Itiary was released from prison after it emerged his alleged victim posed as a 19-year-old woman and lied about her age. Police officers had texts which showed the girl was lying about her age but only released them after he had spent four months in custody awaiting his trial. Isaac Itiary's alleged victim posed as a 19-year-old woman Earlier this month, the case against Samson Makele, 28, was halted after his defence team unearthed vital photographs from his mobile phone which had not been made available. Mr Makele was accused of raping a woman after they met at Notting Hill Carnival in 2016 but he always claimed the sex was consensual. His case, which was due to begin next month, was thrown out after more than a dozen photographs were found which showed the pair naked and cuddling in bed. Also this month, Oxford student Oliver Mears, 19, spent two years on bail accused of raping and indecently assaulting a woman in July 2015. But the CPS decided to offer no evidence against him on the basis of fresh evidence, including a diary that supported his case, which was passed to the CPS just a week earlier. Advertisement

The case was formally dropped at Croydon Crown Court in South London - the same court where Mr Allan stood trial - last week when the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence.

Mr Fitzgerald has since said that he plans to sue the police and CPS. 'If my brother hadn't found the texts, I'd have ended up in prison for 12 years or more,' he said.

A CPS spokesman told MailOnline: 'This case was charged in accordance with the Threshold Test, which is applied in serious cases where further evidence is expected to become available within a reasonable period.

'A decision to charge under the Threshold Test must be kept under review, and prosecutors are required to take account of any change in circumstances as a case develops.

'In January 2018, police provided more material in this case. Upon review of that material, it was decided that there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.

'We therefore decided to offer no evidence at a hearing at Croydon Crown Court on January 22.'

And a Metropolitan Police spokesman told MailOnline: 'We are content with the investigation and our disclosure work, which was conducted in liaison with the CPS.

'During the course of the hearing there was no adverse comment from the Judge about the police investigation.'

It comes after the litany of blunders that led to Mr Allan being wrongly accused of rape was revealed, as police admitted no one will be disciplined over the botched prosecution.

A review of his case found a 'lack of knowledge' by police and prosecutors was to blame for the 22-year-old spending two years with the charges hanging over him - ahead of a trial which was halted at Croydon Crown Court.

A detective was criticised for his handling of 57,000 messages found on the alleged victim's phone, some of which fatally undermined the case.

DC Mark Azariah did not record how he searched the digital trove of messages which revealed that the woman pestered Mr Allan for 'casual sex'.

A senior Scotland Yard officer said Mr Azariah's supervisors and prosecutors missed several opportunities to spot his error.

Neither Mr Azariah, who has since asked to be assigned to different duties, nor any other officer will face misconduct proceedings.

The joint review by police and prosecutors found no evidence that the information was 'deliberately' withheld.

Instead, it blamed the mistakes on 'a combination of error, lack of challenge, and lack of knowledge'.

It felt like I was guilty until proven innocent. My life has been ruined Connor Fitzgerald

Mr Allan, a criminology student at Greenwich University in London, spent two years on bail accused of rape and sexual assault.

His case collapsed in December, sparking a national row over the failures by the authorities to disclose relevant information to defendants.

Thousands of rape prosecutions are being re-examined to check whether they have been affected by similar errors.

In London alone, 600 rape cases in the final stages before trial are being reassessed.