Footballer acquitted this week of raping woman says he wants to speak to young players about risks they face

Ched Evans, the international footballer who was cleared this week of raping a 19-year-old woman after a retrial, has said there should be more education on issues surrounding alcohol and consent, adding: “When they are drunk, think twice about it.”

Evans, who was found guilty of rape in 2012, had his conviction quashed in April after judges ruled evidence relating to the complainant’s sexual history could be included in the second trial.

The case was referred to the court of appeal after a 10-month investigation by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which found new information not raised at the original trial. Evans was ultimately found not guilty of rape on Friday.

The footballer, who was 22 at the time of the incident in 2011 and one of Sheffield United’s top players, said he had done a lot of growing up since then. When called in for questioning in his hometown of Rhyl with fellow footballer Clayton McDonald, who was found not guilty at the original trial, Evans told police: “We could have had any girl we wanted ... We’re footballers.”

Now he says he wants to speak to young players, who may hold a similar attitude, about the risks they are taking when consent is not clear.

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“I have got an idea of what goes on in prison,’ he told the Mail on Sunday. “It was a situation I found myself in. A crime was not committed but nevertheless I was in a situation. I know 100% that lads and girls get themselves in that position. Until something comes of it you never think something will happen to you.”

Central to the prosecution’s case was that the waitress, who woke up alone in a hotel room in Rhyl and claims she had no memory of how she got there and what had happened, was unable to give consent for sex because she was too drunk.

He said: “I was young at the time and I was stupid and I wasn’t aware of the situations you could potentially find yourself in that would land you in trouble. I have never been taught about anything like that. You get your gambling and drinking training but nothing else on top of that. In this day and age people need educating on alcohol and consent.

“I read somewhere you would have to get signed consent. That wouldn’t be realistic but someone needs to come up with something. The best thing is just to be educated. And when they are [too] drunk to think twice about it. How would it look in a court of law?”

On the night in question, Evans was out with McDonald and another footballer, Javan Vidal, who would later receive a suspended prison sentence for knocking a woman to the ground and kicking her that night. Evans had become separated from his friends when he received a text from McDonald which read “I got a bird”.

Evans decided to go to the Premier Inn in Rhyl, where he had booked a room for his former Manchester City team-mate. Once there, he let himself into the room where McDonald was having sex with the complainant. According to the men, McDonald asked if it was OK if his friend joined in, which he did. Evans did not say a single word to her before, during or after intercourse and left through a fire escape door.

The woman claimed she woke up on her own unable to remember anything about the incident. She said her bag was missing and she feared her drink had been spiked so she went to the police, who later charged the men with rape.

Although he has now been found not guilty of the crime, Evans admitted his behaviour was unacceptable but said he would not apologise to the woman concerned for what happened in the hotel room. Since Evans was arrested, she has been subject to online abuse and had to move at least five times and change her name. Despite 10 people, some of whom were friends of Evans, being taken to court and fined for identifying her, she continues to be named online even though she is entitled to lifelong anonymity under the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992.



“I have maintained my innocence from day one so I can never apologise directly for what happened but I can apologise for the effect it’s had,” Evans said of the complainant.

“The social media stuff, I don’t condone whatsoever. I don’t agree with it. It’s not been easy for her. I know that. I think it was a situation that got taken out of our hands from an early stage. She never said anybody raped her. She said she had a blackout but that didn’t mean, like it was said in court, that she didn’t consent. My behaviour that night was not acceptable – but it wasn’t a crime.”

After being found guilty in the original trial, he spent two-and-a-half years in prison. His fiancee, Natasha Massey, whom he was with at the time of the incident, stayed with him, and her millionaire father launched a well-funded legal and PR campaign to clear his name, including offering a £50,000 reward for information leading to his acquittal.

Evans’s comments made in his first interview following the acquittal came as legal experts and campaigners condemned the inclusion of evidence from the complainant’s previous sexual partners in court, which is normally restricted and is only allowed in exceptional circumstances. Both men were known in the footballer’s circle.

During the retrial, she was questioned in detail and at length about whom she had had sex with, the positions she favoured and the language she used during sex. Women’s rights campaigners believe this could stop women reporting rape and other offences for fear they will find themselves in the same situation.

According to the former solicitor general Vera Baird, in the past many defendants in rape trials have called on their friends to testify to the woman’s promiscuity in order to undermine her credibility.

She told BBC News: “The only difference between a clear conviction of Mr Evans in 2012 and the absolute refusal of him having any leave to appeal at that time, and his acquittal now, is that he has called some men to throw discredit on [the woman’s] sexual reputation. We’ve gone back, I’m afraid, probably about 30 years.”

The QC told the Observer that the “exceptional” nature of the case must be made clear, but said the verdict was likely to deter some women from coming forward about rape and sexual assault.

The next step is for Evans’s legal team to investigate the possibility of claiming damages. Any claim for loss of earnings would be capped at £500,000. An application has been put in for court costs that will be taxpayer-funded and are likely to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.