A US Marine has been sentenced to 40 years in prison by a court in the Philippines for raping a local woman, in a landmark case that triggered a storm from women’s rights groups and sparked anti-American protests.

Lance Corporal Daniel Smith was accused of sexually assaulting the 22-year-old woman, known publicly by her pseudonym "Nicole," in the back of a rented van after a night out at the former US naval base of Subic Bay in November last year. The act was said to have occurred at the end of two weeks of military exercises with local soldiers.

Three other US Marines - Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier, Lance Corporal Keith Silkwood and Lance Corporal Dominic Duplantis – also accused of rape, were all cleared in today’s verdict. Their Philippine driver was also acquitted.

Judge Benjamin Pozon, of the Makati Regional Trial Court, said the severe penalty for Smith, 21, was aimed "to protect women against the unbridled bestiality of persons who cannot control their libidinous proclivity."

As the verdict was delivered, cheers and applause broke out in the courtroom and Nicole – a management accounting graduate - began weeping as supporters embraced her. "I’m sad that three were acquitted, but I’m also happy because one was convicted," she later said.

On the streets outside the court, 300 protesters, mainly women, cheered and punched the air triumphantly, brandishing placards reading "Jail the Rapists" and "US troops out now".

Smith, who was also ordered to pay 100,000 pesos ($2,000) showed no emotion as he was led away by police. His lawyers said he would appeal the verdict, which will now automatically go to the Supreme Court for review.

One of the defendant’s lawyers, Benjamin Formoso, said he had spoken with Smith in jail, and that he was weeping and had said he could not understand the court’s ruling.

The decision, which was broadcast live across the nation, was hailed as signalling a major victory for women’s rights as well as a sign of the country’s independence from its former colonial power.

The case has tested a joint military pact – the Visiting Forces Agreement of 1998 - which allows the use of US troops in training exercises and governs their conduct. Critics have argued during the case that the agreement gives US soldiers too much protection, with some calling for it to be scrapped.

A scuffle briefly broke out between US Embassy security personnel and local police over who would take custody of Smith after the verdict. All four Marines have been in US Embassy custody, and under the 1998 agreement, officials argued that Smith could remain so until a final decision on the case was made by the Supreme Court.

But the judge ordered Smith to be temporarily held at a jail in Manila while the two governments resolve the issue of where he should serve his sentence. Within just two hours of the ruling, a US navy plane arrived to take the three cleared Marines out of the country.

A spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo insisted that the verdict would not affect Philippine-US relations, "for it is not about diplomatic relations but about universal justice and the rule of law".

"The court maintained an even keel despite the tremendous pressures upon the bench. We have shown the world that due process is a hallmark of Philippine democracy," he said.

Smith, from St. Louis, Missouri, said that the sex was consensual but the judge ruled that the victim was so drunk she could not have given her consent.

"He was the one who was on top of the complainant, who resisted his kisses, pushed him and fought him back until she lost consciousness because of alcoholic drinks she had taken," read the ruling.

From 1981 until 1988, when the US had two major military bases in the Philippines, at least 82 cases of sexual abuse of women by US troops were recorded but none of the accused was punished because the complaints were dismissed, Reuters reported.

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