Thomas Telford was cleared by a jury in just 45 minutes at Exeter Crown Court after denying a charge of sexual assault

A Royal Marines sniper has been cleared of groping a student at a university ball after claiming he had brushed against her stomach while trying to photobomb her.

The jury at Exeter Crown Court took just 45 minutes to clear 23-year- old commando Thomas Telford of the charge.

The commando had denied sexually assaulting the 21-year-old graduate by rubbing his hand over her vagina in the early hours of the morning on the dance floor at Exeter University.

Telford - who won the King's Badge at the top recruit in his troop before becoming a sniper - said he could have touched the victim's stomach as he photobombed a picture at the event.

Telford told the jury at Exeter Crown Court: 'I did not touch her in the incident.

'I could have had my hand on her stomach. But I am sure in my head I had not done it.'

He denied the prosecutor's assertion that he had drunk too much and 'simply saw the pose and took the opportunity to rub your hand over her body'.

He also denied showing off to his friends at the ball and denied getting 'carried away with drink, fun and the atmosphere'.

The commando, who works on Navy fleet protection at Faslane, Scotland, said that groping was serious.

Telford, a marine for four years, who had been given a caution for an assault in 2015, said he had drunk six pints of lager during the boozy ball attended by 2,000 students.

He told the jury: 'I was drunk. I was a bit more jolly after a few pints. I remember everything, I remember the incident.'

He said he had photobombed the group by the stage before one of the victim's friends launched a 'tirade' against him for alleging groping her.

Telford said: 'I hadn't done anything. I just walked off. I acted nonchalantly. I laughed it off.'

The victim's friend told the jury they had been having fun dancing and then posing for the photos - as she held up her pal's leg in the air.

She said a hand then rubbed up and down on her friend's vagina about three times.

She told the court: 'I am 99.9% sure in my heart it was him who touched her.

'I saw a hand coming from the same direction he had been standing. We were in a pose. The hand touched her body.'

The jury was told that Telford won the King's Badge as the top recruit in his troop while at Commando training in Devon.

He also excelled in jungle training and a senior officer said he had a 'maturity above and beyond his years'.

Privately educated Telford became a maritime sniper and his behaviour was 'faultless and he was highly regarded' by the Corps.

Prosecutor Brian Fitzherbert had said: 'This defendant Thomas Telford sexually assaulted a young woman on the dance floor at the Exeter University graduation ball.

'Put in simple terms he groped her.'

The victim said: 'I was not drunk. I had obviously been drinking. I did not feel impaired in any way and was in control of myself.

'I was posing for a picture with my friend.'

The brown haired graduate said she then felt 'someone touching my stomach around my belly button and move down to my vagina'.