A man who was jailed for sexually assaulting three women is now free after no evidence was offered after a retrial was ordered.

Aaron Hewson had been sentenced to a total of three years 11 months after being found guilty of sexually assaulting three women, some of whom were asleep at the time, following a trial in February last year.

The 34-year-old's sentence was increased to seven years at the Court of Appeal in July last year after the initial sentence, imposed in April last year was ruled to be unduly lenient.

Eastern Daily Press: Court of Appeal in LondonCourt of Appeal in London (Image: PA)But Mr Hewson, formerly of Norwich and Cromer, is now a free man after his three sexual assault convictions and one for assault by penetration were overturned at the Court of Appeal in November last year.

The Court of Appeal ordered that the defendant needed to have those four charges - all said to have happened between August and December 2017 - put to him again but he pleaded not guilty to all counts at a hearing at Norwich Crown Court in November last year.

Eastern Daily Press: Norwich Crown CourtNorwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)A court spokesman said that on February 6 this year "the crown offered no evidence on the four counts".

The spokesman added: "Accordingly these proceedings against Mr Hewson are at an end".

It is understood at least one of the complainants in the case no longer supported the prosecution.

At the Court of Appeal hearing in July last year, Charles Burton KC said Mr Hewson had taken "significant steps" to address his offending behaviour including understanding consent and control".

Mr Hewson's conviction for possession of extreme pornographic images, which he had previously admitted, was unaffected, although he has already served the six-month prison sentence.

He has been made the subject of a non-conviction restraining order for five years, meaning he cannot contact the contact one of the complainants in the original case.