A millionaire London real estate developer avoided a rape conviction this week with an unlikely excuse: He tripped and fell inside the alleged victim.

It took a jury just 30 minutes to acquit Ehsan Abdulaziz, 46, who was accused of forcing himself on an 18-year-old girl who had been sleeping on his couch after a night of partying.

Abdulaziz had already had sex with the girl’s 26-year-old friend when, in his words, he went to check on the teenager to see if she needed a t-shirt to sleep in or a cab ride home.

Instead, Abdulaziz testified, she pulled him toward her, causing him to fall inside of her. Abdulaziz later conceded “his penis might have been poking out of his underwear,” but said he had no intention of having sex with her. The teen told a slightly different story, via the Daily Mail:

At around 4.30am she woke up to find Mr Abdulaziz had forced her shorts to one side and was having sex with her, the court heard.

But Mr Abdulaziz claimed she had tried to seduce him and had pulled him on to her when he went to offer her a T-shirt to make her more comfortable.

After swabs taken from the alleged victim found traces of his semen in her vagina, he said he may have accidentally penetrated her when he fell on her as she pulled him on top of her.

During the trial, Judge Martin Griffiths permitted the rare step of allowing 20 minutes of Mr Abdulaziz’s evidence to be heard in private.

During the trial, Abdulaziz’s attorney intimated the teen might have pressed charges because she was embarrassed Abdulaziz wasn’t interested in having sex with her.

“I always respect ladies,” testified Abdulaziz, who is married with kids. The jury, incredibly, agreed.

Contact the author at gabrielle@gawker.com.