Sticking up for Ched Evans, maintaining in this column that the Welsh footballer was the victim of a miscarriage of justice, has been a pretty horrible experience.

In our shrill, witch-hunt age, if you dare to suggest that a man jailed for rape has been unfairly demonised then you soon become guilty by association.

Still, the abusive messages I received are as nothing compared to what Ched Evans suffered during his two and half years in jail. Life became very rough when Ched refused to go on a course for sex offenders.

It would have been much easier to submit, but the striker has always maintained his innocence.