Former magistrate cleared of rape but facing bankruptcy

For seven years he had served as a magistrate, a pillar of the community handing down sentences in Southampton magistrates court.
So when Tony Hunt had a brief fling with a married colleague he knew that, although it might have been wrong, it was not against the law.
Little did he know that seven years later he would be accused of rape by that same woman – and his life would be turned upside down.
The "attack" was reported to police not by the alleged victim but by one of her friends, another colleague, who at the time was being investigated over disciplinary matters by Mr Hunt, then a senior traffic warden.
Hampshire police persuaded the "victim", a special constable with the force, to give evidence. Hunt was arrested, charged and found guilty of rape at Winchester crown court in 2003 for the "offence" in 1995. He was sentenced to four years in prison.