AN Eastern European who was brought back to face justice in Scotland has been cleared of rape.

It cost taxpayers thousands of pounds to trace and arrest Marius Gintvainis after he left the country.

Police Scotland detectives flew to Lithuania to take him into custody after he was detained by local police under a European arrest warrant.

Mr Gintvainis was put on trial at the High Court in Livingston for allegedly raping a teenager. But after hearing five days of evidence and legal submissions, a jury took just one hour to return a majority verdict finding him not guilty.

Mr Gintvainis, 33, had denied raping the woman, who is now aged 19, at his then home in Livingston, West Lothian, on May 13, 2012.

Giving evidence, the teenager claimed he had and raped her on a bed as her Lithuanian boyfriend laughed and joked with him. The jury heard forensic evidence that Mr Gintvainis had traces of DNA which matched the profile of his alleged victim.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said she had made up the sex attack after he insulted her and threw her out of the house after finding her and her boyfriend in his bed. He said the DNA could have transferred on to his body from his bed sheets.