Judy Finnigan apologises for rape comments about Ched Evans case
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Version 0 of 1. The TV presenter Judy Finnigan has apologised after being criticised for appearing to defend convicted rapist Ched Evans and suggesting his victim did not suffer any “bodily harm”. During her debut on ITV’s Loose Women, Finnigan suggested Evans should be allowed to return to his football club because the attack “wasn’t violent” and the victim had “far too much to drink”. Evans, 25, was jailed in 2012 for five years for raping a 19-year-old woman at a hotel in Rhyl, north Wales, but is due to be released soon. A petition calling for the footballer not to be given back his job at Sheffield United now has more than 140,000 signatures. Speaking about the case on the daytime show, Finnigan said: “He’s served his time. The rape – and I am not, please, by any means minimising any kind of rape – but the rape was not violent. He didn’t cause any bodily harm to the person. “It was unpleasant, in a hotel room, I believe, and she was – she had far too much to drink. And you know, that is reprehensible, but he has been convicted and he has served his time.” The comments caused outrage among viewers, many of whom branded Finnigan’s remarks “disgusting” and “insensitive”, and Finnigan was forced to apologise for appearing to downplay the seriousness of Evans’s crime. After the show, she said: “I absolutely wasn’t suggesting that rape was anything other than a horrendous crime and, as I said on the programme, I was in no way attempting to minimise the terrible ordeal that any woman suffers as a result. “The point I was attempting to raise as part of the debate was what should happen to someone after they have committed a crime and served their time. “I apologise unreservedly for any offence that I may have caused as a result of the wording I used.” |