Ched Evans

Apologies if this has been done but I can’t see any threads.

So – now he has served his sentence (released under licence) should he be allowed to resume his profession? I understand he doesn’t believe he ‘raped’ the person in question and is therefore unrepentant about his position and hasn’t made any kind of apology but surely now he is a free man he should be treated as such? I personally think it is odd that he appears to be getting the backing of the PFA but then sponsors of interested clubs seem to be bullying them into backing out of deals with him.

And what would his options then be? Would any potential employer outside of football be bullied by the media / social media into not employing him in any capacity?

You don’t mention the social media abuse his victim has received…

To me it comes down to one simple question – Does his prison time = suitable punishment ? If it does then why should he apologise ? if it doesnt then what was the point of it ?

Nor the social media abuse he has had nor the abuse that those considerign employing him have had.

Can we discuss the issue the OP raised ? Rape victims are anonymous for a reason lets all agree she has unfairly suffered and discuss the issue?

IMHO you either need to change the law or let it apply equally to him]
Every day hundreds of criminal return to their employment.
Plenty of criminals maintain they did not do it.
I am not sure why he alone should be denied this

we seem to be having this decision done by the lynch mob who these days use online petitions to get their way and do the lynching
If you object, and I can see why, then change the law and be prepared to pay him benefits till he dies.

Marketing is a big deal in football and why there’s so much money involved. Works well if you’re liked but mess up and you’re in trouble. Gotta play the game.

Would any potential employer outside of football be bullied by the media / social media into not employing him in any capacity?

No, they wouldn’t, in the same way those that are frothing at the mouth over Ched Evans aren’t hounding the potential employers of every other convicted sex offender that’s recently been released from prison.

The crux of the matter is he’s a footballer, and will earn a significant chunk of money. There’s another argument that he’s a “role model” for kids, but people are angry that a convicted rapist will earn a lot of money. If he left prison and got a job in Greggs no one would care.

What’s most bizarre about the whole thing is the fact his girlfriend is sticking by him, and her father is bankrolling his appeal. Regardless of whether or not he’s guilty, the undeniable fact is he cheated on the girlfriend by having a threesome with the girl and another mate (while other mates filmed it through the window!) Why the girlfriend and her dad are sticking by him is an absolute mystery.

I understand he doesn’t believe he ‘raped’ the person in question and is therefore unrepentant about his position and hasn’t made any kind of apology

He went for a plea of ‘innocent’, and has stuck by this – therefore he shouldn’t really be apologising for something he hasn’t done.

But he was found guilty, so served his sentence as put down in law.

AFAIK he can go be a footballer again, there is no law that says he can’t – whether he’ll find an employer who’ll employ him is another matter; and this is something faced by the majority of ex-criminals every day.

There’s another argument that he’s a “role model” for kids

No he is not
FWIW I asked my kids about this – not ched too young – and if Rooney was a role model. they , aged 7 and 8 said he is a good footballer but he is not nice to his wife is he.

WhoTF would leave footballers to be role models to their kids that is the parents job

I knew she stood by him I did not know her dad was paying 😯

Daily Mail confusion everywhere on this.

Of course the criminal shouldn’t be allowed to play football! He should be unemployed and have no income, perhaps best he lives on benefits. No, forget that, he shouldn’t get benefits, he should work for a living! What is his profession? eerrr……

He doesn’t think he did anything wrong. The courts found that he did. IMO until he accepts what he did and apologises, or manages to overturn his conviction, I wouldn’t employ him.

I think that he was convicted on very flimsy evidence , has served his time and should now be allowed to get back to playing football . I didn’t see Mike Tyson hounded out of boxing after his rape conviction and well known footballers have continued their careers after killing people in car accidents .

AFAIK he can go be a footballer again, there is no law that says he can’t – whether he’ll find an employer who’ll employ him is another matter; and this is something faced by the majority of ex-criminals every day.

It looks like Oldham are going to sign him.

To say that he’s unrepentant is understating things massively. He’s remained silent about, and thus tacitly endorsed, the harrasssment and even death threats to the girl he was found guilty of raping. Nice. But then nobody seems to be taking her feelings into consideration in all this.

If you raped someone, would you expect to serve your sentence then walk back into your present job?

Having said that. whether you believe he raped her, or she consented, when you read the details of the case, its quickly apparent that he’s a truly vile human being. Footballs probably the best place for him. He fits right in.

He has served his sentence, he is entitled to look for work. I think the PFA have taken the correct stand on this.

I can appreciate those who don’t agree with this but I do think that trying to organize petitions etc to prevent him returning to football are misguided. Thee is a piece in the Guardian saying the real issue we should focus on is the length of sentencing for serious crimes.

He is not repentent, this is not surprising as he believes he should not have been convicted and is appealing his conviction.

Dirty Den of Eastenders murdered a taxi driver and then went on to have a successful and lucrative acting career. There’s a double standard with Ched Evans.

Dirty Den of Eastenders murdered a taxi driver and then went on to have a successful and lucrative acting career. There’s a double standard with Ched Evans

believe it or not some see his crime as worse than murder!

He’s paid his dues in the eyes of the law and must be allowed to pick up his life. Yes he probably should have got more jail time but so should 100s of others.

@ jam this is the thread of the week we agree on

There’s a double standard with Ched Evans

+1 random media sentencing

*nasty piece of work IMO but we shouldn’t just make this stiff up arbitrarily.

To say that he’s unrepentant is understating things massively. He’s remained silent about, and thus tacitly endorsed, the harrasssment and even death threats to the girl he was found guilty of raping

This. The restrictions on what he can say prior to an appeal do not explain his silence on this matter.

How many times has she had to change identity now? Double figures.

His conduct tells me everything I need to know about him. If he gets harrassed from club to club perhaps he’ll get some insight into it.

He has served his sentence

He’s still serving his sentence.

If he left prison and got a job in Greggs no one would care.

The thing is, I think people *would* care now because of the media feeding-frenzy over him. It would certainly make the tabloids and have people pressuring Greggs not to employ him.

He’s still serving his sentence.

This is correct – he has been released under licence just like a great deal of other people do. Is it normal for those people to be denied employment? (Genuine question).

true but he is free to work – assuming the Parole Board agree

Worth reading about the delightful Mr Evans

It’s starting to look like a witch hunt to me now – he claims he was wrongly convicted, so he won’t apologise, but it seems that certain quarters think he sentence wasn’t enough and that he should be prevented from ever working again, or perhaps just being a footballer – maybe if he signed with McD’s to sell Macs they’d be okay with it?

Either way, he hasn’t actually ‘done his time’ yet – he’s out on licence so he’s still actually being punished – he’s actually been given most of his liberties back for being a good prisoner – when that ends in a few months I suspect he’ll go abroad to play in possibly a more enlighten country which believes in rehabilitation, but they’ll never let him play for Wales again.

He is not repentent, this is not surprising as he believes he should not have been convicted and is appealing his conviction.

There is irrefutable evidence that he did what he did and what he did was rape someone. He doesn’t think he did anything wrong. I wouldn’t want him playing for a team I pay to see.

Irrespective of whether he’s nice or not, or a role model or not, he’s served his time and is free to SEEK work in whatever field he chooses.

Likewise it’s up to clubs to decide if they want to employ him.

The thing i have issue with is the pressure that other parties put on in this regard. For sure, if a sponsor or a supporter feels it is the wrong thing to do then they are free to withdraw support, but i don’t see the need for politicians, or other celebrities from whatever walk of life to have any say in this. it’s between the club, the supporters and the player really.

@RaveyDavey – he got 5 years for rape on the basis the girl was too drunk to have consented to sex with him. Evan’s friend was also charged with rape (he sex with the girl first) but he was acquitted. Its not clear that 5 years was too short a sentence in my view. There is an argument it was a fair sentence.

Crimeline Link

Should have hidden in a South American Embassy and refused to come out, that would have made him a hero in the eyes of many!

David Walsh did an interesting piece in The Times at the weekend which basically read like he believed Evans was innocent.

There is irrefutable evidence that he did what he did and what he did was rape someone.

The only evidence was what he and his mate said , the victim claimed to have no memory of events

I think the question is, are convicted criminals rehabilitated by doing the time the courts set out for them to do, or not.

If not, our whole legal system is pointless and any convicted criminal may as well be put to death.

If yes, why can’t he go back to his profession?

I don’t like the guy, but what the sponsors and media have done to him is wrong.

The thing i have issue with is the pressure that other parties put on in this regard.

Is my issue with this – several clubs have wanted to sign him and then pulled out due to third-party pressure.

Reminds me a lot of the Lee Bowyer / Jonathan Woodgate incident…

I’m sure there are many jobs in society that you would be barred from if you had a rape conviction against your name, i have no problem with footballer being one of those considering the high profile they seem to get.

Let him go work else where.

Having said that. whether you believe he raped her, or she consented, when you read the details of the case, its quickly apparent that he’s a truly vile human being. Footballs probably the best place for him. He fits right in.

^This. (I don’t agree with the football bit though, there are some good people in the game) He had sex with a girl along with and then after his friend had, having diverted his taxi on the off chance that he might get an opportunity, he then left the girl in an unknown hotel, alone with no belongings, drunk and not knowing where she was, while he left by a fire escape and went home with his friend. Whether the sex was consensual or not, only those 3 people truly know, but he is a dirt bag and you reap what you sow.

@RaveyDavey – he got 5 years for rape on the basis the girl was too drunk to have consented to sex with him.

Reading up on the case it also appears that drunken consent is still actually consent .

true but he is free to work – assuming the Parole Board agree

Indeed he is. Just getting the facts straight as folk often tend to be misinformed on these things and spout they’d opinions as fact. And, one assumes, will be on the sex offenders register for life (is it life these days or will he be judged to be not quite rapey enough after a certain amount of time?). Personally, for once I’m more than happy to see a rapist lynch mobbed until he has no other option other than to earn his money cutting the grass at a football club. For the record, the last count of changes of address/identity for his victim was 5. Hounded by his fans (and other random vile arseholes on the Internet) – I can only assume he’s been quite happy for it to happen given he hasn’t discouraged it. This case has shown that football (or indeed other professional sports perhaps) is a special case. Whether we need to legislate or not, I have no idea.

Let him go work else where.

Then campaign to change the law dont hound him because you dont like the law currently.

On the register for at least 15 years DD. Depends on the offence as to how long Townshednof who fame was 5 years iirc

I am not sure you can blame him for the actions of nobbers on the internet and he has spoken out about it but no one cares/even when he does they dont believe him

And on a totally unrelated topic, someone I know very well was gay raped (he had a big issue with drink at the time). The parallels are exactly the same – he was very drunk, was coerced into going back to the guy’s flat with a third male and woke the next day with almost no memory of what had happened.

The police told him to stop wasting their time (he reported it the following morning) and not a thing has ever been said about it since. To be fair he didn’t help himself by making up stories in the first instance to distance himself from the reality of what happened.

But then he wasn’t raped by a footballer.

He’s not actually served his sentence, he’s still serving the remainder of it on licence (hence why he’s not allowed to work outside of the country, as he’s not only on license but a registered sex offender. He’s certainly entitled to look for work, just as Rolf Harris is when he gets out, or Jimmy Saville would have been if he’d served any time, or a taxi driver who is convicted of death by dangerous driving, or a policeman convicted of racially aggravated assault. It doesn’t mean that they’re entitled to go into the same line of work, or that anyone who employs them will be immune from criticism.

Given Evans is completely unrepentant and has friends and family who have been arrested for harassing his victim and naming her on social media (something that’s still ongoing, she’s had to move five times) I think any club would have to be mad to sign the scumbag.

Given Evans is completely unrepentant

One hand – difficult to be repentant if you believe she was consenting / you have done nothing wrong. Other hand – a bit of contrition about distress caused as a result wouldn’t go amiss

and has friends and family who have been arrested for harassing his victim and naming her on social media

Are these really friends and family, or just random internet ****?