GAZETTE & HERALD: THE foster mother of teenager Clare Morgan, who was found dead at her flat, has spoken of her anger after the man accused of raping her was cleared.

Lee Kirkwood, 18, of Hill Rise, Chippenham, was cleared of raping and indecently assaulting the 18-year-old teenage voluntary after Swindon Crown Court was told on Friday the Crown Prosecution Service decided they could not rely on statements made by Miss Morgan before she died.

Kirkwood, who denied the charges, was only 16 when he was accused of carrying out two sex attacks on Miss Morgan when she was 18 in the late summer of 2002.

Miss Morgan suffered from cerebral ataxia which affected her balance and caused her fits and seizures.

Her death, alone at her flat in Allington Way in January 2003, remains a mystery as an inquest recorded a death by natural causes after a pathologist could find no medical reason for it.

Miss Morgan's former foster mother Monique Johnstone said she was shocked and appalled by the decision.

"I wasn't certain there would be a conviction because Clare was dead, but I wanted the trial to go ahead, and people to be called to account," she said.

"I know it wasn't going to make any difference to Clare, but I wanted the truth to come out. This is just mad."

Miss Morgan was sexually abused by a family member and was taken into care at the age of six. She had been fostered by Mrs Johnstone, who lives in Corsham, since she was 13.

Mrs Johnstone was angry Miss Morgan's past meant her credibility had been called into question and she accused the care and housing system of failing to support very vulnerable young people, when they turned 18 and had to fend for themselves.

"They say Clare's credibility has been compromised by what she has been through in her life, but I think that is terrible. In other words, if a rapist finds a victim who has been sexually abused or in care, then no one will believe them if they report it," she said.

"Clare was a vulnerable and fragile person, and having been sexually abused, would have found it hard to fight someone off. We need to have sheltered accommodation for people like her. She shouldn't have been sent out to live on her own in a flat."