A police detective accused of indecently assaulting a 33-year-old woman on the inaugural sailing of a new ferry service has been acquitted.

Brent Beckett, 40, stationed at Newhaven police station in East Sussex, walked free from Lewes Crown Court yesterday on the fourth day of his trial.

Mr Beckett had denied indecently assaulting the woman on April 22 last year.

The jury took just over an hour to reach a unanimous verdict.

It was alleged he groped the breasts of a mother-of-two on board the first voyage of the Hoverspeed SeaCat II fast ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe.

The woman, who cannot be named, said he also put his hands between her legs after becoming "hopelessly drunk" on free champagne and drinks.

But the court also heard from Mr Beckett's defence barrister Nick Lobbenberg how the alleged assault took place in a crowded coffee bar on the return journey to Newhaven during the event in April last year.

Mr Lobbenberg asked why the woman had not reported the offence to friends on the boat, or to Mr Beckett's colleague, Det Con Andrew Walker, who was also on the ferry.

He told her: "This took place in a very public place in the middle of a coffee bar, with lots of people around; it was lingering touching.

"You did not tell your friends on the boat, you did not tell the policeman on the boat and you did not tell your husband when you got home."