Footballer Ched Evans says SORRY to accuser after breaking down in tears as he is sensationally found not guilty of raping teen waitress in hotel… now how much compo will he get?
FOOTBALLER Ched Evans has apologised to his teen accuser after he wept as he was sensationally cleared of rape this afternoon.
The former Wales and Manchester City forward, who fought a five year battle to clear his name, broke down in tears and hugged his partner Natasha Massey following the verdict at Cardiff Crown Court.
It is the latest twist in a five-year saga that has divided the nation.
Evans was jailed in April 2012 after he was convicted of the offence.
He faced a public backlash after serving just half of his five-year sentence.
Sheffield United were slammed for allowing the striker train with them a month after being freed from prison.
TV presenter and club patron Charlie Webster quit in protest and Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill ordered her name to be taken off the Bramall Lane stand.
It led to the South Yorkshire club dropping their interest in the forward.
In January 2015 League One side Oldham Athletic were forced to abandon plans to sign the former Manchester City starlet following threats to the club's staff and families.
Last summer Evans was offered a way back into the football and signed a one-year deal worth around £2,000-a-week with Chesterfield.
The striker scored four league goals in seven appearances for the League One side but has not played since September due to the retrial.
The Spireites will welcome their star man back for the visit to Southend on Saturday.
Evans, 27, had admitted to having sex with the teenager in a hotel in Rhyl, north Wales, and cheating on his girlfriend, but always insisted it had been consensual.
He has already served half of a five-year prison sentence after he was originally convicted of the offence in 2012.
But the Chesterfield striker always maintained his innocence from the very outset - saying the woman had invited him to "join in" a 4am romp with fellow footballer Clayton McDonald.
After Evans was cleared previously unseen evidence emerged:
- It was sensationally revealed his fiance Natasha Massey offered a key witness £50,000 for evidence to clear him - but it was not accepted.
- Footage of the footballer leaving the Premier Inn via the fire escape
- First pictures of the hotel in Rhyl, north Wales where Evans had sex at 4am with the teen waitress
- It emerges Evans now could qualify for up to £500k compensation for the two-and-a-half years he spent in jail
Defence counsel Judy Khan QC said Evans answered every single question during his police interviews and detectives would never have known about the sex session had it not been for the footie star's honesty.
And this afternoon a jury found Ched Evans not guilty of rape following a two-week retrial.
The jury took just three hours to reach its verdict.
Evans, 27, said he walked into a room at a Premier Inn hotel to find fellow footballer Clayton McDonald having sex with the woman.
The Chesterfield striker said Mr McDonald asked her whether he could join in and she replied “yes”.
Cardiff Crown Court heard how she was too drunk too give consent and Evans treated the victim with “utter contempt”.
Prosecutors branded Evans “callous and self centred” when he had sex with her in the hotel in Rhuddlan, North Wales in May 2011.
Simon Medland QC the jury: “Ched Evans couldn’t have cared less if the girl wanted sex with him or not.
“This wealthy, successful young footballer felt entitled to have her and did so regardless to what she may have wanted.
“This was rape and not consensual sex.”
Ched Evans' fiance Natasha Massey 'offered key witness £50,000 bribe for evidence to clear him'
CHED Evans' fiancée offered a key witness in his rape trial a £50,000 "bribe" for any new evidence to clear him, it can now be revealed.
Natasha Massey, 27, sent a Facebook message about the huge cash reward to hotel receptionist Gavin Burrough - and signed it with a kiss.
But Mr Burrough did not take the money and stuck to the same version of events he has always given.
Prosecuting barrister Simon Medland QC said the "subtle and repeated" five-figure sum was "akin to a bribe".
The jury at Evans' retrial was not told about the Facebook messages after the judge ruled them inadmissible.
The messages sent by mum-of-one Miss Massey were both signed off with a "x" and allegedly put "pressure" on Mr Burrough to change his evidence.
The first message sent on May 6 2012 - two weeks after he was jailed - said: "We are appealing for new information. There is a £50,000 reward for any new evidence. Do you know anything that could help Ched? X''
The second post - sent the following morning - read: "Ok. I see you have chosen to ignore me. I understand you want to put it all behind you.
"If you can deal with the fact that Ched is innocent and he's spending the next 17 months in prison and you can just sit back and let it happen so be it. I'm literally begging. If you know anything please help me x.'"
Burrough never changed his account of what happened in the Premier Inn in Rhuddlan, North Wales.
Medland said the messages were sent so Mr Burrough "could consider his position as a witness", adding: "There is a plain inference to be drawn from the two Facebook messages.
"In the second message an element of pressure was brought to bear firstly by dint of repetition secondly by way of reflecting on the words used by Miss Massey."
He added: "There is no direct evidence it is a bribe but it is subtle and repeated inducement to change his evidence to support the case for the defendant.
"It is akin to a bribe. There is no direct evidence of bribery. This is an attempt to induce Mr Burrough to change his evidence so it supported the case of the defendant."
He added: "It has the flavour of a bribe."
But Evans' legal team argued the messages showed nothing more than "a desperate girlfriend trying to help her boyfriend who she believed was innocent."
Evans could qualify for up to £500,000 compensation for the two and half years he spent in prison.
According to FalselyAccused.com, the Home Secretary is prepared under certain circumstances to pay compensation to those who have been wrongly convicted or charged.
Under Section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, people who are wrongly convicted should be compensated for all their losses on the same basis as other injury claims – including the loss of earnings and the reduction of future earning capacity.
Beauty therapist Natasha has stood by her boyfriend ever since he was first accused of rape in 2011 and the couple had a baby son together in January this year.
The couple have been together since 2009 and Natasha previously told how Evans "wasn't capable" of committing such a crime.
In a TV interview after his conviction, she said: "As soon as I found out that he'd been questioned over rape, my instinct was kind of protective of Ched, and I thought I have to stand by him.
"So my thoughts and feelings over the cheating were put to one side and I just stepped in to help him through this terrible time."
Natasha's business tycoon father Karl, 52, helped launch the website Chedevans.com following his conviction and funded Evans' legal challenge.
The website, which proclaimed that Evans was "wrongly convicted of rape on 20th April 2012" boasted of the £50,000 available for new information that could help his appeal.
Judy Khan QC, defending, said: "He cheated on his girlfriend that night, that's not particularly moral behaviour, but none of that makes him a rapist.
"This is not a case about morality or immorality and you won't judge him because his behaviour was ungallant or immoral.
"Drunken consent is nevertheless still consent.
CCTV footage showed Evans walking out of the fire escape after having sex with the teen waitress.
Prosecutors say the complainant was too drunk to consent to sex and awoke hours later confused and alone in the room.
Paedo footballer Adam Johnson's girlfriend celebrated as Evans was cleared.
Adam Johnson's ex-girlfriend celebrates as Ched Evans' rape conviction is overturned
PAEDO footballer Adam Johnson's ex-girlfriend has celebrated as Ched Evans has his rape conviction overturned.
Stacey Flounders tweeted a message of support for the footballer as the news broke he had been cleared of raping a 19-year-old waitress at a Premier Inn hotel.
Flounders wrote: "About time !!! NOT GUILTY. Team Ched..."
She later added: "I can't put into words how happy I am for Natasha & Ched !!! They can now carry on as a family knowing his name is cleared!"
The 26-year-old, who has a daughter with the convicted footballer, has previously tweeted messages of support for the former Wales and Manchester City forward.
Adam Johnson, who was jailed for six years for sexual activity with a besotted 15-year-old fan, lost an appeal against his own conviction in July.
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