Cairn's "cleared", because no one admits to telling him.

A former Welsh secretary has been cleared of breaking the ministerial code over claims he knew a former aide had collapsed a rape trial.

An inquiry found it "unlikely" Alun Cairns had not been made aware of Ross England's role in the collapse.

The investigator said those involved said they did not inform Mr Cairns of Mr England's role, and there was "no direct evidence to contradict this".

Mr Cairns insisted he did not know the details of the case.

He resigned from the cabinet in November after the row broke out, just before the official start of the general election campaign.

A UK Government Cabinet Office investigation was launched following Mr Cairns' resignation from Boris Johnson's cabinet in November.

Sir Alex Allan, the prime minister's independent adviser on ministerial standards, has concluded that the evidence does not uphold the allegations against Mr Cairns.

In his report, Sir Alex said:

 "I find it unlikely that Mr Cairns would not have been told something about Mr England's role when he was told about the collapse.
"But all those involved state that they had not informed Mr Cairns of Mr England's role, and there is no direct evidence to contradict this.
"On that basis, I do not find that the evidence upholds the allegations of a breach of the Ministerial Code."

The rape victim told BBC Wales that she was "disappointed but not surprised" by the investigation's conclusion.

Reading Sir Alex judgement it seems that basically unless someone  admitted they informed Cairns (highly unlikely) he had no option to accept their word.

Did not the media also try and contact Cairns for a comment ? or was this not admissible?

However it seems to me that contrary to being cleared, Cairns has received a very reluctant verdict.