Ched Evans given leave to appeal rape conviction

As reported by the BBC and various other media outlets, ex-Sheffield United striker Ched Evans has been granted leave to appeal his rape conviction, a conviction that saw him handed down a five-year jail term in 2012.

Evans was released last year and walked straight into more controversy as his former club Sheffield United, acting on a request from the Professional Footballers’ Association, allowed their former player to use the club’s training facilities. A club statement on the Sheffield United website, at the time of this decision (November 11, 2014), stated that, “After due consideration, the Board has decided to respond favourably to The PFA’s request and to allow Mr Evans to train at the Club’s facilities.” However, such was the outcry by this decision that Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill asked that her name be removed from one of the Bramall Lane stands should he ever play for the club again. Barely a week after their initial decision (on November 20, 2014) Sheffield United, surprised by “an intensity [of outcry] that could not have been anticipated“, rescinded their offer.

The outcry dogged Evans’ every attempt to find himself a team with which to play with clubs such as League One Oldham Athletic and League Two Hartlepool Town being among a number of clubs where public pressure forced the club in question to either abandon plans to sign the Wales international (in the case of Oldham Athletic) or make a public statement refuting that they were interested in procuring Evans’ signature (in the case of Hartlepool Town). The last club where interest was shown in acquiring Evans’ footballing services was Grimsby Town in January 2015, where a ‘financial backer’ offered to pay the footballer’s wages, but the club refused to take up the offer.
Evans’ appeal against his rape conviction, of which he has always maintained his innocence, comes about after the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred his conviction to the appeal courts after lawyers acting on Ched Evans’ behalf lodged fresh evidence before the courts. As reported in the BBC article, the CCRC said, “said it had carried out a 10-month investigation into the case and referred it based on new information which was not raised at trial.”

Regarding the decision to review Evans’ conviction, CCRC chairman Richard Foster explained that,

“The decision of the commission is not a judgment on guilt or innocence in relation to Ched Evans, nor is it a judgment about the honesty or integrity of the victim or any other person involved in the case. Our role is to consider applications to see if, in our judgment, there is any basis on which to ask the court to hear a fresh appeal – that is our statutory responsibility. In this case we have identified new material which was not considered by the jury at trial and which in our view might have assisted the defence. In those circumstances, it is right and proper for the matter to be before the court so that they can decide whether or not the new information should affect the verdict in this case.” Richard Foster: BBC News online, October 5, 2015

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