A teenage schoolboy has been cleared of rape after his lawyers uncovered key evidence that proved his innocence but was missed by police and prosecutors.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has publicly blamed police officers for not discovering thousands of social media messages that proved the 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was not guilty.

He was expelled from school after his arrest by Leicestershire police in 2016, when he was 15, and is the youngest victim of the disclosure scandal engulfing the CPS.

Yesterday the prosecution offered no evidence after deciding that there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. Not guilty verdicts were entered for the 14 charges against him, which included rape against two complainants, sexual assault and…