Quote Ferocious Aardvark="Ferocious Aardvark"Having done some reading of the available materials on Evans' case, I for one do not believe he should have been convicted. He and his mate ended up having sex with the complainant at more or less the same time yet by the jury's decision, she was able to give consent until Evans swapped places, at which instant she suddenly became unable to give consent. So, his mate was acquitted of rape yet Evans was convicted, when there was zero forensic evidence, no complaint of rape (or anything else), and the only accounts of what happened were those of Evans and his mate. Who said she agreed to making it a threesome, and was enthusiastic about what followed. Sordid behaviour by all concerned, but although Evans may have the sexual mores of a ginger tom, that does not make him a rapist.'"
Agreed. I have read quite a bit about the case, including the sentencing remarks.
It is blatantly an inconsistent / perverse verdict. As in the verdict of the jury did not sit with the evidence. I take the view it was an 'all or nothing case'. I do not see how one of the men involved could be guilty of rape, and the other be not guilty, when the prosecution case was that the women was too drunk to consent to sex with either.
It is also worth nothing that the jury, who were in their 3rd week of jury service, told the Judge on a Friday afternoon that they could not reach a unanimous verdict. Rather than direct the jury could return a majority verdict (10/2), as a judge is entitled to do after 2hrs 10 minutes, the Judge told them to go away and spend further time seeing if they could reach a unanimous verdict. Faced with the prospect of returning on Monday, for what would have been a 4th week's jury service for some, the jury came back shortly thereafter and returned a unanimous guilty verdict.
I fully expect it to be declared unsafe, and thus overturned, once the Court of Appeal gets hold of it. This will raise an interesting question - will public opinion be 'happy' with the idea of Ched Evans going back to playing football?
As for other points raised in this thread, any man can be accused of rape, and there but for the grace of God go any of us.
As I said previously, false accusations happen on a regular basis. Usually it is a women who has had sex that she regrets. She then tries to justify it to herself and others by saying she was raped. Once she walks into the police station and gives the complaint, the ball has started rolling, she has to stick to her story, or face possible prosecution herself.
Again - there is no public appetite to take action against false complainants, because the police and CPS are terrified of the women's lobby who constantly push the line that all men are s and everyone with a penis is a rapist. Also, it is feared it would discourage genuine complainants from coming forward.
