Former MP's aide cleared of rape calls for anonymity to be granted to all men accused of sex crimes

A former Tory MP's aide cleared of raping a woman in the Houses of Parliament has called for all men accused of sex crimes to be granted anonymity. Speaking for the first time since he was found not guilty, Sam Armstrong says his life will never be the same again after he was wrongly accused of rape in October 2016. Then aged 24, he was suspended as chief of staff to South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay and endured 14 months of "cruel public shaming" until he cleared his name. Yet despite being found not guilty by a jury of all charges last December, he argued his identity should have been protected from the start of the legal process and only have been revealed if he had been convicted.