R v Evans

R v Evans and McDonald
Court	Crown Court
Full case name	Regina v Chedwyn Michael Evans and Clayton Rodney McDonald
Decided	20 April 2012
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting	Merfyn Hughes

R v Evans and McDonald was the criminal prosecution of two footballers, Ched Evans and Clayton McDonald, who were jointly accused of the rape of a woman. On 20 April 2012, Evans was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment. McDonald was acquitted.^[1] Several people were later fined after naming the victim on Twitter and other social media websites.^[2]

Background

On 30 May 2011, Wales international and Sheffield United player Ched Evans and another person were arrested on suspicion of the sexual assault of a woman in Rhyl, Denbighshire, following an incident at a Premier Inn in Rhuddlan on the same day.^[3] On 26 July 2011, Evans and another professional footballer, Clayton McDonald, were charged with rape,^[4][5] which they both denied.^[6]

Criminal proceedings

Preliminary hearings

On 8 August 2011, McDonald and Ched Evans appeared before Prestatyn Magistrates' Court charged with rape.^[4][7][8] The defendants were released on bail and did not comment on the matter,^[9] but McDonald told Port Vale's website that he "strongly refute[d]" the allegation.^[10][11] Evans also issued a statement on Sheffield United's website stating that he "strenuously denie[d] the charge".^[12] McDonald and Evans entered pleas of not guilty at the Crown Court at Caernarfon on 14 October, and were remanded on bail.^[6]

Trial

The trial took place at the Crown Court at Caernarfon in April 2012. The woman, a 19-year-old waitress, said she had drunk two glasses of wine, four double vodkas with lemonade, and a shot of sambuca.^[13] As a result, she told police she "felt tipsy but not out of control".^[14] However, she woke up naked and confused in a hotel bed with no memory of anything since leaving a dancing session with friends the previous night. She suspected that her memory loss was due to a spiked drink.^[13][13][15] Samples taken the following day showed no alcohol, although the prosecution argued this was due to normal elimination over time.^[16] The samples did show traces of cocaine and cannabis, which she denied taking on the night of the incident.^[13] The prosecution argument was that the victim was too intoxicated to have consented.^[17][18]

The defence agreed that McDonald met the woman on the street and took her back to the hotel, where they were later joined by Evans. However, they claimed that both men had sex with the woman separately and with her consent. They argued she was not too drunk to consent, and suggested that her claim of memory loss may be a lie.^[19]

On 20 April 2012, the jury returned its verdicts. McDonald was acquitted. Evans was convicted of rape and sentenced to five years imprisonment. Judge Merfyn Hughes QC stated in his sentencing remarks that: "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."^[1]

Appeals

On 24 April 2012, it was announced that Evans was seeking the leave of the Court of Appeal to appeal against his conviction.^[20] On 20 August 2012, leave to appeal was refused by a single judge of the Court of Appeal,^[21] and on 6 November 2012, a three-judge panel agreed with the refusal.^[19][22]

In November 2013 it was revealed that Evans had recruited a new legal team headed by ex-senior detective Russ Whitfield and appeals lawyer David Emanuel.^[23] In July 2014, he launched another appeal attempt via the Criminal Cases Review Commission.^[24] He was released from prison on 17 October 2014.^[25] Following his release, the Criminal Cases Review Commission announced that they were fast-tracking a review into his conviction.^[26] In January 2015 it was reported that Evans had submitted "fresh evidence" to the Criminal Cases Review Commission claiming that this would "strengthen" his case.^[27]

Naming of complainant on Twitter

North Wales Police investigated claims that the victim had been named and subjected to abuse on Twitter after the trial. Former Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Holly Dustin, the director of End Violence Against Women, and Secretary of State for the Home Department Theresa May warned of the risks posed by discussing court cases on social media websites, and reiterated the need to protect the anonymity of complainants in cases concerning sexual offences.^[2][28][29] As of 6 October 2012, North Wales Police had arrested 23 people on suspicion of offences relating to the naming of the victim.^[30] Police also investigated a mistake by Sky News which showed the name of the complainant on television.^[31]

Sheffield United academy and reserve team player Connor Brown was suspended by his club after allegedly making offensive comments about the victim on Twitter, although he did not give her name.^[32][33]

On 5 November 2012, nine people who had named the victim on Twitter and Facebook were each told to pay her £624 after admitting the offence at Prestatyn magistrates' court. A tenth person pleaded not guilty,^[34] but later changed her plea to guilty on 21 January 2013.^[35]

In October 2014, after Evans' release from prison, it was reported that the complainant's new identity had illegally been revealed on Twitter and blogs again, having had to change her identity due to having been named previously on social media.^[36][37]

References

External links

• Twitter is not a law-free area, says Dominic Grieve The Daily Telegraph, 11 May 2012.
• Police speak to Sky News over Ched Evans rape tweet Press Gazette, 18 May 2012.