Judge 'delighted' to be cleared

Sir Stephen Richards, who sits in the Court of Appeal as Lord Justice Richards, was cleared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London after a two-day trial.

Sir Stephen, 56, a married father of three, had denied two counts of "intentionally exposing his genitals intending that someone would see them and would be caused alarm or distress".

He was accused of flashing at a woman on a train between Wimbledon and Waterloo on October 16 and October 24 last year. Senior District Judge Timothy Workman said the case came down to his word against hers.

Although the woman, a City worker in her 20s, gave "clear, dignified and truthful evidence", there was "insufficient evidence" to back up her identification of Sir Stephen, Mr Workman said.

On the court steps after the verdict, Sir Stephen, accompanied by his wife, Lucy, said: "Throughout the trial I have put my trust in the legal process and I am delighted that it has enabled me to clear my name."

In a rare move, the case was heard by chief magistrate Mr Workman, the most senior district judge in England and Wales, sitting with two lay magistrates. He said that, "sadly", the British Transport Police had failed to investigate the allegation promptly or to investigate it thoroughly.

He ruled: "There was no supporting evidence obtained during the investigation. In the absence of any evidence capable of supporting the identification of October 16 and 24, we... for this reason only, reach the conclusion that the evidence is insufficient to meet the high standards required on identification and we cannot be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt. The charges are therefore dismissed."

The woman had claimed that Sir Stephen exposed his genitals beneath his long raincoat on the packed rush-hour train. She initially thought that Oxford-educated Sir Stephen had accidentally unzipped his trousers - until she alleged he exposed himself again a week later.

Mr Workman considered 18 character references for Sir Stephen, including one from former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf, a counsel to the legal adviser at the US State Department in Washington, and a British Government legal adviser, plus four QCs and family and friends.