Ched Evans: should a convicted rapist be allowed to return to professional football?

Case summary

In 2012, Wales and Sheffield United striker Chedwyn Evans was jailed for raping a 19 year-old woman. He admits to having sex with this woman, but continues to deny that he committed rape. 

thenews-hub.com
Convicted rapist Ched Evans

Evans was convicted at Caernarfon Crown Court in April 2012. He denied rape at a Premier Inn in North Wales along with Port Vale defender Clayton McDonald. Both men admitted having sex with the woman on 30th May 2011, but insisted that it was consenual. Mr McDonald was acquitted, triggering a brief adjournment. The judge commented:

"The complainant was 19 years of age and was extremely intoxicated. CCTV footage shows, in my view, the extent of her intoxication when she stumbled into your friend. As the jury have found, she was in no condition to have sexual intercourse. When you arrived at the hotel, you must have realised that."

Judge Merfyn Hughes QC said that the sentence took into account the fact that there had been no force involved and the victim received no injuries. 

bbc.co.uk
Clayton McDonald

The jury saw videos in which the woman said she could not remember what had happened that night, and feared her drinks had been spiked. She woke up in a double bed in the hotel with no recollection of how she got there, saying she was 'confused and dazed'. The court heard during Evans' evidence that he had gone to the hotel, let himself into the hotel and watched his friend McDonald and the woman having sex. It was claimed that Mr McDonald asked if Evans could 'get involved', to which the woman said yes. The prosecution claimed that while the attack happened, Ryan Roberts (Evans' brother) and Jack Higgins (an 'associate' of the footballers) watched and tried to film the events through a window.

However, this is a topic which simply won't go away. There are some who still believe that Evans was wrongly convicted. But the question which is still hotly debated is whether Ched Evans should be allowed to return to football.

Evans' video statement

In October 2014, Evans released a video statement via his website. Ched Evans appears in the video, speaking monotonously and with his girlfriend Natasha Massey hanging off his arm. He appears to be reading the statement from an auto-cue, and delivers it without any real feeling. Evans maintains his innocence throughout. Personally, it strikes me as unlikely that he wrote this statement himself - I found his completely ineffectual and unfeeling delivery rather abrasive. The original video can be seen here, but the transcript is as follows:

“In May 2011, in a hotel in North Wales, I cheated on my partner, Natasha, and hurt the woman I love with all my heart. Since that night, I’ve constantly regretted that act of infidelity and damage that has been done on so many fronts because of it. The support that has been shown by Natasha, our friends and family during the trial and the time spent in prison has kept me strong. It can’t have been an easy thing to have stood by someone found guilty of such a destructive act, and I will be forever grateful. Even though I have been released from prison, I am determined to continue fighting to clear my name and it is public knowledge [that] an application to refer my case back to the court of appeal has recently been submitted to the Criminal Case Review Commission by my lawyers. The application seeks to demonstrate that the act that I engaged in on that night were consensual in nature and not rape. I made an incredibly foolish decision and failed those who trusted and believe in me, most of all Tasha and our families. It is a rare and extraordinary privilege to be permitted to play professional football. Now that I have served the custodial part of my sentence of two and a half years, it is my hope that I will be able to return to football. If that is possible, then I would do so with humility and learned a very painful lesson. I would like a second chance but I know not everyone would agree. I don’t believe I have a given right to play again, but for any club to take me on, I have learned a valuable lesson and know that over time, I can prove myself to be a positive influence, not just on the pitch but also in the community. Thank you for listening to me.”

dailymail.co.uk
Ched Evans and his fiancé Natasha Massey during
his video statement

Why support Ched Evans' return to football?

Sheffield United announced that they granted Evans the chance to train with the side after a request from the Professional Footballers' Association. 

The main argument behind allowing Evans to return to football is the idea that he has served his sentence. Mr Evans was sentenced to 5 years, but as with most convicted rapists, he only served half of that in prison. Ched Evans seems to have found the entire process a strain, and does seem to show a certain degree of remorse (but only for infidelity; he still denies rape).

theminimart.com
Charlie Webster stepped down as patron
of Sheffield United following the club's decision to
allow Evans to train alongside them

Let us for a moment imagine that Evans had committed the exact same acts, but was an 'ordinary' man - a plumber, perhaps. Firstly, the case would probably never have been so high profile. Secondly (and perhaps crucially to this side of the argument), Evans would be allowed to return to work. He has served his time, complied with the legal system and should now be allowed to return to his normal life.

But this issue is not so clear cut, and has been incredibly divisive. Sheffield United patron Charlie Webster resigned after the club's decision to allow Evans to return; she told BBC's Newsnight that the club had 'at no point' acknowledged 'the extremity of his crime.'

Why oppose Ched Evans' return to football?

bbc.co.uk
Following her opposition to Evans' return
to Sheffield United, Jessica Ennis-Hill
received rape threats from Twitter trolls

Recently, Olympic athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill requested that her name be removed from one of the stands if Sheffield United allowed Evans to return to the club. There have been petitions and campaigns against Evans' return to professional football.

One of the motivations behind these has been his apparent lack of remorse for his actions of rape - the trouble with this is that it once again comes down to whether Ched Evans was correctly convicted in the first place. However, I think we should be able to hold enough faith in our justice system to believe in the correct verdict being passed: the woman was clearly extremely intoxicated, and in no real fit state to consent to much. The predatory nature of Evans' behaviour is concerning and disturbing. But for a man protesting his innocence, it would be unusual for him to suddenly turn round and apologise to his victim if he insists on never doing anything wrong (apart from infidelity to his partner).

Another problem is his profile. Ched Evans is well-known, and a role model to many, especially men and boys. What sort of a message does that send out to his fans? That it's acceptable to take advantage of people when they are vulnerable, because you can continue with your daily life afterwards? His victim can never return to normality - she has reportedly been forced to leave her hometown and change her name following abuse and threats.

This is always going to be a divisive topic - whatever decision is made by Sheffield United, it will never satisfy everyone. Ched Evans' billionaire future father-in-law has apparently offered him a day-job should his return to football be refused. This seems to be another case of the trials and tribulations of fame. What is certain, however, is that Evans will always carry the stigma of being a convicted rapist along with him, just as the woman he had sex with in a hotel in North Wales can never truly recover from her ordeal.

guardian.co.uk