Andrew Lovett leaves court after his acquittal on two rape charges. Credit:Angela Wylie After Lovett's acquittal, an AFL spokesman said he was welcome to return to playing at the top level. "The AFL’s view is that Andrew is fully entitled to nominate again for the AFL draft if he wishes to do so, and then it would be a matter if any club chose to select him," an AFL spokesman said. "If he was again drafted by one of our clubs, he would certainly be accepted back into the competition." Lovett and his then-St Kilda teammate, Jason Gram, met his accuser, a model, and her friend at the Royal Saxon Hotel in Richmond on December 23, 2009, and went back to Gram's Port Melbourne apartment.

Lovett told police the sex was consensual, the court heard. Credit:Penny Stephens The jury heard that the woman was a responsive sexual partner and in his closing address, defence counsel David Grace, QC, said it was most likely that she had drunkenly given consent. He said that, while she argued that a one-night stand would be out of character for her, the woman had done many things that night that were out of character. That included drinking and kissing Gram several times when she did not know him very well. The jury heard that Lovett did not wear a condom when having penile sex with the woman.

Mr Grace, in his closing address, described the complainant as an entirely unreliable witness whose credibility was compromised because of her inability to recall or remember many events of the night. "On the evidence you have heard, you just could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt as to the prosecution's allegations and if you agree with me, then the only verdicts you can deliver are verdicts of not guilty in relation to each charge." Mr Grace had described as "preposterous" the woman's evidence that she had tried to text her ex-boyfriend for help while having sex with Lovett. He said the phone records did not make this possible. The woman testified: "I remember feeling someone on top of me and I thought I was dreaming or imagining it. Then I remember realising that someone was having sex and I scrambled away and said no. I grabbed my phone and I texted [an ex-boyfriend] for help." Lovett did not testify and the defence called no witnesses but, in his record of interview, played to the jury, the 28-year-old said the woman was willing and a responsive sexual partner.

"There wasn't any problems ... like, it wasn't her going 'No, stop, don't do this' or screaming, or her saying 'hop off, hop off me'. There wasn't any of that," he told detectives. "So yeah, at the time, it felt like it was right. It was consensual. We were both enjoying it. There wasn't any restrictions. It wasn't her saying 'Get off me, you're raping me.' "I was sort of shocked to hear an allegation towards me, and I was, sort of, a bit offended." Detective Senior Constable Brendan Payne asked him: "Did she know that it was you she was having sex with?" Lovett replied: "Yeah, of course she did."

Senior Constable Payne: "Is it possible that she could've thought it was Jason?" Lovett: "I dunno, you're going to have to ask [her] that ... You could tell that if I was Jason ... he's light skinned, I'm dark skinned." Later, Senior Constable Payne asked: "So, in your mind, she fully knew it was you, is that what you're ... " Lovett: "Yeah, she knew it was me, yeah." The former footballer said he felt his then St Kilda teammates treated him harshly by accusing him straight away and that was why he left the apartment.

"That's when I got a bit defensive ... I thought I was a bit harsh done by. Everyone was all saying stuff and saying, you know, 'How could you bring the club down like this?' and all that kinda jazz. "And I said 'Look, I haven't done anything wrong, mate. I swear to God' and I was pretty honest about that." The jury also acquitted Lovett of an alternative third count of rape in which the prosecution alleged he failed to stop having sex after the woman said to stop. Judge Meryl Sexton thanked the jurors for the way they had conducted themselves during the trial. - with JON PIERIK