Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Charles Leacock QC discontinued the case against Crawford, who said he would seek compensation for malicious prosecution and false imprisonment.

Turner 30, and Diane Davies 63, were attacked and raped within days of each other in 2010. The two women believe that the Barbados police were more concerned about the country's tourist industry than catching the real attacker.

Prior to the hearing on Thursday, Police Commissioner Darwin Dottin in a statement said, “the Royal Barbados Police Force has an excellent reputation in the law enforcement community and is highly regarded.

"This is not to say that we never make mistakes. On the contrary, on such occasions it is our policy to admit our failings.  To suggest that we put the reputation of our country before the welfare and comfort of our visitors is utterly wrong.

"Almost one million visitors come to Barbados each year. The overwhelming number of these visits are incident free,” he added.

Both women, who helped provide funds to hire a lawyer for Crawford, had insisted that their rapist was significantly younger than Crawford and that neither his voice nor facial features matched that of their assailant.