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Ched Evans: footballer found not guilty of rape in retrial Ched Evans: footballer found not guilty of rape in retrial
(about 5 hours later)
The international footballer Ched Evans has been found not guilty at his retrial of raping a 19-year-old waitress in a hotel room after a drunken night out with former club-mates. International footballer Ched Evans has been found not guilty of the rape of a 19-year-old woman, but the decision to allow the jury to hear the sexual history of the complainant has sparked outrage from women’s support groups and campaigners.
Evans spent two and a half years in prison for rape but his original conviction was quashed by the appeal court following a high-profile and well-funded campaign by family and friends that included the offer of a £50,000 reward for information leading to his acquittal. As Evans was acquitted of rape at a retrial on Friday, five years after having sex with the woman in a hotel room, activists expressed the fear that an earlier appeal court ruling which allowed the complainant’s sexual behaviour to be taken into account by the jury would set a dangerous precedent, and could put off women from coming forward to report sexual offences.
The jury at Cardiff crown court took two hours to acquit Evans. He kept his head down as the male jury foreman returned the unanimous verdict. The appeal court judgment – made before the retrial but which can only now be reported – allowed in new evidence from two witnesses who gave testimony about the complainant’s sexual preferences and the language she used during sex. It led to her being questioned in detail in open court about intimate details of her sex life.
Applause could be heard from the public gallery following the acquittal. Mrs Justice Nicola Davies told him: “Mr Evans, you are discharged and you can leave the dock.” Evans, who has played for Wales and Sheffield United and was a member of the Manchester City youth set-up, spent two-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted in 2012 of raping the young woman following a drunken night out in his home town of Rhyl, north Wales.
Evans then rushed from the dock into the arms of his girlfriend, Natasha Massey. Both sobbed as the judge thanked the jury and the barristers. She said: “This case has been conducted out in the public gaze.” Following his conviction, a well-funded legal and PR campaign that included the offer of a £50,000 reward for information leading to his acquittal was launched by family and friends. The campaign eventually resulted in the case going to the court of appeal in London and his conviction was quashed.
In a statement read outside the court by his solicitor, Shaun Draycott, Evans said he was “overwhelmed with relief” following the verdict. He thanked his friends and family, “most notably my fiancee, Natasha, who chose, perhaps incredibly, to support me in my darkest hour”. After an eight-day trial, a jury at Cardiff crown court took two hours to acquit Evans. He kept his head down as the male foreman returned the unanimous verdict. Evans then rushed from the dock into the arms of his girlfriend, Natasha Massey. They held each other for a minute and sobbed on each other’s shoulders.
Evans stood by his lawyer shaking as the statement concluded: “Whilst my innocence has now been established, I wish to make it clear that I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone who might have been affected by the events of the night in question.” In a statement read outside the court by his solicitor, Shaun Draycott, Evans said he was “overwhelmed with relief”. He thanked his friends and family, “most notably my fiancee, Natasha, who chose, perhaps incredibly, to support me in my darkest hour”.
A spokesman for Evans said he would now return to football – though he is currently nursing an injury. The statement concluded: “Whilst my innocence has now been established, I wish to make it clear that I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone who might have been affected by the events of the night in question.”
The appeal was allowed after judges gave the go-ahead for two former sexual partners of the complainant to give explicit evidence in court about her sex life, a rare move that has been widely condemned by women’s support groups and campaigners. A spokesman for Evans said he would now return to football – though he is currently nursing an injury. He may be able to sue for lost earnings, which would total millions of pounds.
One group, Women Against Rape (WAR), told the Guardian the decision “drove a coach and horses” through legislation designed to protect victims and could stop other abused women coming forward for fear they would be quizzed about their sex lives. Chesterfield, his current club, welcomed the verdict. Chief executive Chris Turner said: “We can now all move forward and focus on football.”
It can now be revealed that:It can now be revealed that:
The woman told the jury she woke up naked in a hotel room in Rhyl, north Wales, in May 2011 with no memory of what had happened but fearing she had been attacked after her drinks were spiked. The woman told the jury she woke up naked in a hotel room in Rhyl, north Wales, in May 2011 with no memory of what had happened but fearing her drinks were spiked.
Evans, who has played for Manchester City, Sheffield United and Wales, insisted he and his friend and fellow footballer Clayton McDonald had consensual sex with the woman. Friends encouraged her to go to the police and officers found out that the room in which she woke up had been booked and paid for by Evans. He was questioned, and both he and his friend and fellow footballer Clayton McDonald said they had consensual sex with the woman.
He told the jury McDonald was having sex with her when he walked into the hotel room. He claimed the pair looked at him and McDonald asked the woman: “Can my mate join in?” Evans said the woman replied: “Yes.” The prosecution said she could not possibly have consented as she was too intoxicated. She has never alleged Evans or McDonald raped her.
The prosecution said she could not possibly have consented to sex as she was too intoxicated. In court, Evans admitted he lied to get the key for the hotel room and did not speak to the woman before, during or after sex. He left via a fire exit. It also emerged that Evans’ younger brother and another man were trying to film what was happening from outside the room.
In court, Evans admitted he lied to get the key for the hotel room and did not speak to her before, during or after sex. He left via a fire exit. It also emerged that Evans’ younger brother and another man were trying to film what was happening from outside the room. Lisa Longstaff, of the group Women against Rape, said the case seemed a “throwback to another time”. Section 41 of the Youth and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 puts restrictions on what evidence can be put before a court by the defence about an alleged victim’s sexual behaviour and questioning of the complainant.
Friends of the woman encouraged her to go to the police to report how she had woken up with no memory of what happened to her, believing her drinks had been spiked. She went to a police station and officers found out that the room in which she woke up had been booked and paid for by Evans. He was questioned by police and admitted he had sex with her – but claimed it was consensual. “But it has exceptions, and clever lawyers can get round it,” said Longstaff. “Here they’ve driven a coach and horses through the supposed protection.”
When he was interviewed by police Evans boasted that he and McDonald could have had any woman they wanted in the club that night. “Footballers are rich and they have money,” he said. “That is what girls like.” Vera Baird, the barrister, women’s rights campaigner and police and crime commissioner, said the appeal court decision would “go down as a precedent that will be used and abused”. She said the exception used by Evans’ team was originally specifically about instances of sexual activity that happened “at or about the same time”, such as during sex parties.
Lisa Longstaff, of WAR, said the case seemed a “throwback to another time”. She said: “The whole way the case has been handled trivialises rape and puts women off reporting. They know that if they come forward they are going to be trashed.” One of the new witnesses said he had sex with the complainant on the same bank holiday weekend as the hotel incident; the second said they had sex a fortnight later. A feminist activist who goes by the pseudonym Jean Hatchet and was behind petitions asking football clubs not to sign Evans following his jail term, told the Guardian it was “deeply worrying” that evidence about a victim’s sexual history had been permitted.
Section 41 of the Youth and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 puts stringent restrictions on what evidence can be put before a court by the defence about an alleged victim’s sexual behaviour and questioning of the complainant. She said: “This will set a precedent in rape cases to follow where defence barristers will comb through an alleged victim’s sexual past and following the alleged assault at a time when they are suffering trauma.”
“But it has all these exceptions, and clever lawyers can get round it,” said Longstaff. “Here they’ve driven a coach and horses through the supposed protection. It’s a classic defence tactic. They bring in previous partners to trash her character.” Rachel Krys, co-director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “We are very concerned at the precedent which might have been set.
She added: “This trial has been a throwback to bad times when women were the ones on trial and had no say in a sexual encounter.” “In addition to this there are reports that the defence offered a ‘bounty’ for such testimony. This is extremely worrying. We will review the case in full and may contact the Crown Prosecution Service and the government about aspects of this case which raise concern.”
A feminist activist who goes by the pseudonym Jean Hatchet and was behind petitions asking football clubs not to sign Evans following his jail term, told the Guardian it was “deeply worrying” that evidence about a victim’s sexual history had been permitted. Polly Neate, chief executive of Women’s Aid, said: “There is a big risk that this case overall has a negative impact on reporting. Only this week CPS figures revealed a quarter of women are not pursuing cases. If you look at the surrounding maelstrom about this case it’s easy to see why that is the case.
She said: “This has no bearing on whether a woman was consenting to a totally different sexual experience at all. “A woman’s past sexual history bears no relevance on whether or not they have been a victim of rape. There is a need to challenge pervasive cultural assumptions that equate a woman’s former sexual history with her likelihood of being a victim of rape.”
“More worryingly, this will set precedent in rape cases to follow where defence barristers will comb through an alleged victim’s sexual past and following the alleged assault at a time when they are suffering trauma. Women who have been raped have sex before they are raped and they have sex afterwards. Police reminded people that naming the complainant was a criminal offence. Supt Jo Williams, of north Wales police, said: “We are aware that once again the victim has been named on social media. An investigation is ongoing.
“Many victims and survivors of rape have followed this case from the original arrest and many more in the intervening years. They have been hanging on every word.” “People need to be aware that they could find themselves being arrested and prosecuted. This was done previously, people were prosecuted and heavily fined.”