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Ched Evans rape trial: Footballer 'would not hurt a girl' Ched Evans rape trial: Footballer's alleged victim 'lying'
(about 1 hour later)
Footballer Ched Evans has told a court he would not "hurt a girl" at his retrial for rape. A man who had sex with a woman two weeks after she accused footballer Ched Evans of rape has come forward because he thinks she is lying, a court heard.
The Chesterfield striker denies raping a 19-year-old at a Premier Inn in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, on 30 May 2011 and insists it was consensual sex. He also told Cardiff Crown Court she had no memory of three other meetings.
Chesterfield striker Mr Evans denies raping a 19-year-old at a Premier Inn in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, on 30 May 2011 and insists it was consensual sex.
Mr Evans, 27, was found guilty of rape at Caernarfon Crown Court in 2012, but his conviction was quashed in April.Mr Evans, 27, was found guilty of rape at Caernarfon Crown Court in 2012, but his conviction was quashed in April.
He told Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday there was "nothing sinister" in what he did. At Mr Evans' retrial, the man, who cannot be named, said the woman stayed over at his house on three occasions prior to the alleged rape after meeting up at Rhyl's Zu Bar.
The court heard the woman returned to the hotel with Mr Evans' friend and fellow footballer Clayton McDonald after meeting him at Rhyl's Zu Bar. He said on each occasion they were intimate but the next day she could not remember what had happened.
Mr McDonald, 27, previously of Manchester City and Port Vale but now at non-league Redditch United, was cleared of rape at the original trial. "She asked if we had done anything the night before. I told her what we had done, but I knew she meant sex so I said no," he told the court.
Mr Evans told the court on Tuesday he found the remark he made to police about women liking footballers because they were rich "cringe worthy". "It was like she did not know nothing."
"At the time I was explaining to the officers, I was not expecting it to be read out in court. I don't think footballers are entitled to anything," he said.
Mr Evans - who started his career at Manchester City - insists the complainant agreed to let him "join in" while she was having sex with Mr McDonald in the hotel room and denied trying to hide his face from CCTV cameras as he left.
Prosecutor Simon Medland QC said: "You came out of that fire door and deliberately tucked your head down... You've got your head down so you would not be looking at the camera. What would you say to that?"
"I would say you were wrong," he replied.
Mr Evans was asked why he decided to enter the room after getting a key from reception.
"I was just being childish," he said. "There was nothing more sinister than that."
The court heard the lights were out when he went in.
Mr Medland said: "I'm going to suggest that she did not even know it was you [having sex with her]."
"She did know it was me," Mr Evans replied. "I would not hurt a girl, I would not do anything to harm a girl."
He told jurors he would not have performed a sex act on the woman had she not asked him to, but accepted he never spoke to her.
"It was a moment that we were all caught up in. It was not the right time for a conversation," he said.
Mr Evans' half-brother, Ryan Roberts, 23, a secondary school maths teacher, told the court he, the striker and their friend, Jack Higgins, got a taxi to the Premier Inn in the early hours of 30 May 2011.
He and Mr Higgins looked through the windows of the hotel while Mr Evans went inside, filming some of what they saw on a phone but he did not see him having sex with the complainant.
The court also heard from a man who said he had taken the alleged victim home three times from Zu Bar prior to the alleged rape and said the pair were intimate with each other but she had no memory the next day.
"She asked if we had done anything the night before. I told her what we had done, but I knew she meant sex so I said no," he said.
'Similar phrases'
"It was like she did not know nothing," the man - who cannot be named - replied.
When he said he was surprised by this, Mr Evans' barrister Judy Khan QC asked why.When he said he was surprised by this, Mr Evans' barrister Judy Khan QC asked why.
"Because I did not think she was that drunk," he replied."Because I did not think she was that drunk," he replied.
The man said he then had sex with the woman two weeks after the alleged rape by Mr Evans, after being in Zu Bar. The man said he then had sex with the woman two weeks after the alleged rape by Mr Evans, again after being in Zu Bar.
"She came up to me and said that if I took her home she would give me a good time," the man said."She came up to me and said that if I took her home she would give me a good time," the man said.
He said the complainant used similar phrases during sex to those the defence said were used when she had sex with Mr Evans and Mr McDonald. He said the complainant used similar phrases during sex to those the defence said were used when she had sex with Mr Evans and friend Clayton McDonald.
When cross-examined, he rejected claims he invented the sexual phrase in a bid to help Mr Evans.When cross-examined, he rejected claims he invented the sexual phrase in a bid to help Mr Evans.
He also denied receiving payment or a promise of payment relating to a £50,000 reward for information posted on Mr Evans' website which led to the overturning of his conviction at the Court of Appeal. Ms Khan asked the witness if he had given evidence for financial gain, referring to a financial offer for any information which may have led to Mr Evans' 2012 conviction being overturned.
He said: "No."
"Why are you giving evidence?" she asked. "Because I believe she [the complainant] is lying," he replied.
Earlier, Mr Evans told the court he would not "hurt a girl" and there was "nothing sinister" in what he did with the complainant.
The court has heard the woman returned to the hotel with Mr Evans' friend and fellow footballer Mr McDonald after meeting him at Zu Bar.
Mr McDonald, 27, previously of Manchester City and Port Vale but now at non-league Redditch United, was cleared of rape at the original trial.
Mr Evans - who started his career at Man City - insists the complainant was not too drunk to consent and agreed to let him "join in" while she was having sex with Mr McDonald.
Jurors heard the lights were out when he let himself into the room.
Prosecutor Simon Medland QC said: "I'm going to suggest that she did not even know it was you [having sex with her]."
"She did know it was me," Mr Evans replied. "I would not hurt a girl, I would not do anything to harm a girl."
He told jurors he would not have performed a sex act on the woman had she not asked him to, but accepted he never spoke to her.
"It was a moment that we were all caught up in. It was not the right time for a conversation," he said.
Mr Evans also denied trying to hide his face from CCTV cameras as he left the hotel through a fire door.
The trial continues.The trial continues.