Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Natasha Massey and Ched Evans outside court following the verdict

Footballer Ched Evans has been found not guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room.

The Chesterfield striker was accused of attacking her at a Premier Inn in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, on 30 May 2011.

Mr Evans, 27, was originally found guilty of rape at Caernarfon Crown Court in 2012, but this conviction was quashed in April.

He was found not guilty of the same charge, after a retrial at Cardiff Crown Court, on Friday.

In a statement read out on Mr Evans's behalf after the verdict, the footballer said: "In the early hours of 30 May 2011, an incident occurred in north Wales that was to change my life and the lives of others forever.

"That incident did not involve the commission of a criminal offence and today I am overwhelmed with relief that the jury agreed.

"I would like to thank my legal team... for their tireless efforts upon my behalf.

"Thanks go, too, to my friends and family; most notably my fiancee, Natasha [Massey], who chose, perhaps incredibly, to support me in my darkest hour.

"Whilst my innocence has now been established, I wish to make it clear that I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone who might have been affected by the events of the night in question."

Soon after the verdict, the woman was named on social media, which is prohibited under law as victims and alleged victims of sexual offences are guaranteed lifelong anonymity.

Supt Jo Williams, from North Wales Police, said: "People need to be aware that they could find themselves being arrested and prosecuted. This was done previously, people were prosecuted and heavily fined."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A timeline of events leading to Ched Evans clearing his name

A jury of seven women and five men took less than three hours to clear Mr Evans following a two-week trial.

There were gasps and cries in the public gallery when the verdict was read out, with members of Mr Evans's group breaking down.

Mr Evans, a former Wales international who was capped 13 times, was discharged from the dock and embraced Miss Massey.

He has always denied having sex with the woman while she was too drunk to consent.

He insisted she had agreed to let him "join in" while she was having consensual sex with fellow footballer Clayton McDonald, 27 - who was cleared of rape at the original trial - after a night out in Rhyl.

Image copyright Wales News Service Image caption Ched Evans leaves Cardiff Crown Court with his fiancee Natasha Massey

His legal team argued the case was "built around the myth" the complainant had been too drunk to agree to sex.

The prosecution alleged the woman did "not have the freedom or capacity to consent".

They said Mr Evans had treated her with a "callous, self-centred indifference essentially indistinguishable from utter contempt".

However, the jury cleared Mr Evans of the single charge after retiring to deliberate at about 11:40 GMT on Friday.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it respected the jury's decision and thanked the complainant for her "courage" in giving evidence.

Ed Beltrami, chief crown prosecutor, said: "The prosecution argued that the complainant did not have the capacity to consent, but the jury found they could not be sure, beyond reasonable doubt, that the complainant did not consent, or that Evans thought she was not consenting."

Evidence, not seen by the jury but discussed in open court, included two Facebook messages Miss Massey had sent to a prosecution witness after the first trial.

She wrote to Gavin Burrough, a night receptionist at the Premier Inn, saying there was a £50,000 reward for any new evidence.

"I'm literally begging. If you know anything please help me," she said.

Mr Burrough said he could not provide any more information as what he told the jury in the first trial was the truth.

The prosecution said the messages were an "attempt to induce Mr Burrough to change his evidence", but the defence successfully argued they were the actions of a "desperate girlfriend" seeking to clear her boyfriend's name.

Analysis

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ched Evans was playing for Sheffield United at the time of the alleged rape

Dominic Casciani, home affairs correspondent

In rape trials, defence lawyers are banned from cross-examining an alleged victim about their sexual behaviour or history to protect them from humiliating treatment.

But there can be exceptional reasons to ditch that rule in the interests of a fair trial. The Court of Appeal said Mr Evans's case was one of those very rare exceptions.

It said that two other men who had sex with the woman had described their encounters with her in highly specific terms that were virtually indistinguishable from Mr Evans's own account of what had happened.

One of the encounters occurred days before the alleged rape - and the other in the days that followed.

On each occasion the woman had been drinking heavily and the sex occurred in a very specific way - including the words she used to encourage her partner.

Each time she woke up saying she had no memory of what had happened.

Lady Justice Hallett, one of the country's top judges, said that these events were so similar to what Mr Evans had described that a jury had to hear about them before deciding whether the woman had been incapable of giving her consent.

However, critics will say that this ruling on when a victim's sexual past can be scrutinised sets the bar far too low - and it may deter rape victims from coming forward out of fear of being interrogated.

And that, in turn, they argue, will mean fewer rapists facing justice.

Mr Evans was jailed for five years after his original conviction in 2012 before being released in October 2014.

His conviction was referred to the Court of Appeal following a 10-month investigation by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which found new information not raised at the original trial.

Mr Evans - who had been playing for Sheffield United at the time of his conviction - came close to joining League One side Oldham Athletic in January 2015.

However, the club pulled out of the deal following threats to their staff and pressure from sponsors.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ched Evans scored on his return to football with Chesterfield this season

He also had an offer to use Sheffield United's training facilities rescinded in November 2014 after more than 170,000 people signed a petition against the move.

Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill asked for her name to be removed from a stand at the club's Bramall Lane ground if he re-signed for the South Yorkshire side and three club patrons resigned.

He signed for Chesterfield in June after his successful conviction appeal.

Chesterfield chief executive Chris Turner said: "We are naturally delighted with the outcome, especially for Ched, his family and friends. We can now all move forward and focus on football."

The Football Association of Wales said it would not comment on the verdict.</s>The international footballer Ched Evans has been found not guilty at his retrial of raping a 19-year-old waitress in a hotel room after a drunken night out with former club-mates.

Evans spent two and a half years in prison for rape but his original conviction was quashed by the appeal court following a high-profile and well-funded campaign by family and friends that included the offer of a £50,000 reward for information leading to his acquittal. 



The jury at Cardiff crown court took two hours to acquit Evans. He kept his head down as the male jury foreman returned the unanimous verdict.

Applause could be heard from the public gallery following the acquittal. Mrs Justice Nicola Davies told him: “Mr Evans, you are discharged and you can leave the dock.”

Evans then rushed from the dock into the arms of his girlfriend, Natasha Massey. Both sobbed as the judge thanked the jury and the barristers. She said: “This case has been conducted out in the public gaze.”

In a statement read outside the court by his solicitor, Shaun Draycott, Evans said he was “overwhelmed with relief” following the verdict. He thanked his friends and family, “most notably my fiancee, Natasha, who chose, perhaps incredibly, to support me in my darkest hour”.

Evans stood by his lawyer shaking as the statement concluded: “Whilst my innocence has now been established, I wish to make it clear that I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone who might have been affected by the events of the night in question.”



A spokesman for Evans said he would now return to football – though he is currently nursing an injury. 



The appeal was allowed after judges gave the go-ahead for two former sexual partners of the complainant to give explicit evidence in court about her sex life, a rare move that has been widely condemned by women’s support groups and campaigners.

One group, Women Against Rape (WAR), told the Guardian the decision “drove a coach and horses” through legislation designed to protect victims and could stop other abused women coming forward for fear they would be quizzed about their sex lives.

It can now be revealed that:
• During the appeal case that led to the retrial, lawyers for the crown suggested the two new witnesses may have been “fed” information by those close to Evans. This claim was rejected by Evans’s side.
• Evans’s fiancee, Massey, was accused in legal argument during the second trial of offering an “inducement” to a key witness. The prosecution said this had “the flavour of a bribe”. The trial judge disagreed with this description. A spokesman for Evans and Massey said: “The judge was very clear. No further comments will be made.”
• The appeal court judges, whose decision can be reported for the first time, expressed “a considerable degree of hesitation” before allowing in the new evidence of the former partners because it resulted in the complainant’s sexual behaviour being subject to forensic scrutiny – which is almost always banned.
• The complainant continues to be named and abused on social media though the law gives her lifelong anonymity. The police are investigating one blog that identified her during the trial.

The woman told the jury she woke up naked in a hotel room in Rhyl, north Wales, in May 2011 with no memory of what had happened but fearing she had been attacked after her drinks were spiked. 



Evans, who has played for Manchester City, Sheffield United and Wales, insisted he and his friend and fellow footballer Clayton McDonald had consensual sex with the woman.

He told the jury McDonald was having sex with her when he walked into the hotel room. He claimed the pair looked at him and McDonald asked the woman: “Can my mate join in?” Evans said the woman replied: “Yes.”

The prosecution said she could not possibly have consented to sex as she was too intoxicated.

In court, Evans admitted he lied to get the key for the hotel room and did not speak to her before, during or after sex. He left via a fire exit. It also emerged that Evans’ younger brother and another man were trying to film what was happening from outside the room.

Friends of the woman encouraged her to go to the police to report how she had woken up with no memory of what happened to her, believing her drinks had been spiked. She went to a police station and officers found out that the in which room she woke up had been booked and paid for by Evans. He was questioned by police and admitted he had sex with her – but claimed it was consensual.

When he was interviewed by police Evans boasted that he and McDonald could have had any woman they wanted in the club that night. “Footballers are rich and they have money,” he said. “That is what girls like.”

Lisa Longstaff, of WAR, said the case seemed a “throwback to another time”. She said: “The whole way the case has been handled trivialises rape and puts women off reporting. They know that if they come forward they are going to be trashed.”

Section 41 of the Youth and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 puts stringent restrictions on what evidence can be put before a court by the defence about an alleged victim’s sexual behaviour and questioning of the complainant.

“But it has all these exceptions, and clever lawyers can get round it,” said Longstaff. “Here they’ve driven a coach and horses through the supposed protection. It’s a classic defence tactic. They bring in previous partners to trash her character.”

She added: “This trial has been a throwback to bad times when women were the ones on trial and had no say in a sexual encounter.”

A feminist activist who goes by the pseudonym Jean Hatchet and was behind petitions asking football clubs not to sign Evans following his jail term, told the Guardian it was “deeply worrying” that evidence about a victim’s sexual history had been permitted.

She said: “This has no bearing on whether a woman was consenting to a totally different sexual experience at all.

“More worryingly, this will set precedent in rape cases to follow where defence barristers will comb through an alleged victim’s sexual past and following the alleged assault at a time when they are suffering trauma. Women who have been raped have sex before they are raped and they have sex afterwards.

“Many victims and survivors of rape have followed this case from the original arrest and many more in the intervening years. They have been hanging on every word.”</s>Wales international footballer Ched Evans was found not guilty of rape by a jury at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday following a retrial.

Evans, who plays for English third-tier club Chesterfield, was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room near Rhyl, north Wales, in May 2011.

The 27-year-old was previously found guilty of rape, but the jury was told that the Court of Appeal had quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial.

The verdict, which the jury reached in just three hours after being asked to consider the evidence by trial judge Mrs Justice Nicola Davies earlier on Friday, ended Evans's five-year fight to clear his name.

"Mr Evans you are discharged and you can leave the dock," Davies told Evans as she brought the eight-day trial to a close.

Evans was seen crying and hugging partner Natasha Massey, who has been behind him ever since he was first convicted, after the verdict was announced.

Following his acquittal Evans, with Massey alongside him, stood on the steps of the court as a statement was read out on his behalf by his solicitor Shaun Draycott. 'Darkest hour'

"In the early hours of 30th May 2011 an incident occurred in North Wales that was to change my life and the lives of others for ever," the statement said.

"That incident did not involve the commission of a criminal offence and today I am overwhelmed with relief that the jury agreed."

The statement then saw Evans thank his legal team before adding: "Thanks go, too, to my friends and family; most notably my fiancee, Natasha, who chose, perhaps incredibly, to support me in my darkest hour.

"Whilst my innocence has now been established, I wish to make it clear that I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone who might have been affected by the events of the night in question."

Evans and Massey then left without making any further comment or answering questions from waiting reporters.

Chesterfield, the club Evans joined in pre-season, issued a separate statement of their own saying they welcomed the verdict, with chief executive Chris Turner adding: "We are naturally delighted with the outcome, especially for Ched, his family and friends. We can now all move forward and focus on football."

From the start, Evans insisted he was innocent of rape.

Evans said he walked into a hotel room where fellow footballer Clayton McDonald was having sex with the woman, adding McDonald then asked her if he could join in, to which she replied: "Yes."

Prosecutors, however, alleged that the complainant was too drunk to consent.

Evans and Massey are still in a relationship. They plan to marry and have a nine-month-old son.

Then playing for Sheffield United, Evans was initially found guilty of rape in April 2012 and sentenced to five years in prison amid a widespread debate in Britain about the morals of footballers and the sport's attitude towards women.

In October 2014, Evans was released after serving half his sentence. The following month saw Sheffield United face a public backlash after the club said they would let Evans train with them.

Sheffield-born Jessica Ennis-Hill, the 2012 Olympic heptathlon champion, responded by asking for her name to be removed from a stand at United's Bramall Lane ground, while television sports presenter Charlie Webster quit as a club patron.

Third-tier Oldham then pulled out of a move to sign Evans following another public outcry.

Meanwhile the complainant, despite being granted anonymity, was subjected to a hate campaign on social media after her identity was made public.

In October last year, Evans's case was referred to the Court of Appeal on the basis of new information and he subsequently won an appeal against the original conviction before being sent for a retrial.

Prior to the retrial, Evans signed a one-year contract with Chesterfield, Oldham's divisional rivals, and in June he scored in his first game in four years during a 3-0 friendly win against Ilkeston.</s>Chesterfield FC and former Sheffield United striker Ched Evans has been found not guilty of rape.

The 27-year-old had been accused of raping a 19-year-old woman at a hotel room in north Wales, but today was found not guilty at Cardiff Crown Court.

The Wales international and Chesterfield striker, who fought a five year battle to clear his name, wept and hugged his partner Natasha Massey following the verdict at Cardiff Crown Court.

Evans, 27, had admitted to having sex with the teenager in a hotel in Rhyl, north Wales, and cheating on his girlfriend in the process, but always insisted it had been consensual.

He had maintained his innocence from the very outset - saying the woman had invited him to “join in” a 4am romp with a fellow footballer.

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 soccer star’s honesty.

Evans was previously found guilty of raping the woman following an earlier trial - but the conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal and a retrial ordered.</s>Ex-Wales striker Ched Evans has been found not guilty of raping a woman in a Rhuddlan hotel.

The footballer has been on trial at Cardiff Crown Court to face allegations that he raped the 19-year-old at the Premier Inn in the early hours of May 30, 2011.

Evans had denied the offence and was cleared by the jury shortly after 2.30pm today.

Live: Ched Evans found NOT GUILTY of rape at Cardiff Crown Court

The 27-year-old was originally found guilty following a trial four years ago, but the conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal and a retrial ordered.

When the jury of seven men and five women cleared the footballer, Evans immediately hugged his fiancee Natasha Massey, the mother of his nine-month-old son, and they both wept.
• Ched Evans: How events leading up to not guilty verdict unfolded

In a statement read outside court on his behalf by his solicitor Shaun Draycott, he said he was "overwhelmed with relief" by the verdict.

His statement said: "In the early hours of 30th May, 2011, an incident occurred in north Wales that was to change my life and the lives of others forever.

"I would like to thank my legal team, Judy Khan QC and David Emanuel of Garden Court Chambers, London, and Shaun Draycott of Draycott Browne Solicitors, Manchester, for their tireless efforts upon my behalf.
• How Ched Evans' girlfriend stood by him through five years of rape case hell

"Thanks go, too, to my friends and family; most notably my fiancee Natasha who chose, perhaps incredibly, to support me in my darkest hour.

"Whilst my innocence has now been established, I wish to make it clear that I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone who might have been affected by the events of the night in question."

Evans stood with Miss Massey and supporters as the statement was read.</s>Footballer Ched Evans has been found NOT GUILTY of raping a 19-year-old woman following a night out.

Evans faced a retrial over the alleged attack on a 19-year-old woman at a Premier Inn in north Wales in May 2011 after having his original conviction overturned earlier this year.

A jury took two hours to clear the 27-year-old of one count of rape at Cardiff Crown Court today.

The Wales international striker has always maintained his innocence and claimed he had consensual sex with the woman following a night out in Rhyl.
• Ched Evans rape trial live: Footballer found NOT GUILTY after five-year battle to clear name

The 'heavily intoxicated' teenager had sex with Evans' former teammate Clayton McDonald in the hotel after a night out in the town.

McDonald had met her outside the Godfather takeaway in the town and sent Evans a message en-route to the hotel, telling him: "I've got a bird".

A short time later Evans arrived at the Premier Inn in a taxi blagged a key card from a hotel receptionist and let himself into the room.

Evans told the court: "My intention was to go into the room, see what they were doing.

“When I saw them, she was asking Clayton to f*** her harder.

“When I walked in, the door slammed and they both looked at me.

“Then Clayton looked at her and said: ‘Can my mate join in?’ She looked at me and said yes.”

The court heard McDonald laid on the bed while Evans had sex with the woman before leaving the room.

Evans was later seen leaving the hotel via a fire escape at 4.49am before walking two miles home.

Evans was found guilty of rape and sentenced to five years in jail following a trial at Caernafon Crown Court in April 2012.

The former Manchester City star was released on licence in October 2014 and ended an 18-month search for a new club when he was signed by League One side Chesterfield in June.

In April this year his conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal and a retrial was ordered.

Evans began his career at Chester City’s youth team before being signed to Manchester City.

He joined Norwich City on loan in 2007, scoring 10 goals in 28 appearances before returning to the Sky Blues.

In 2009 he was sold to Sheffield United for £3million before being released after his conviction in 2012.

Evans scored on his debut for Wales in 2008, and made 13 appearances for the national side.</s>Jurors have started their deliberations in the rape retrial of footballer Ched Evans.

The 27-year-old Wales international is accused of raping a teenager at a Premier lnn near Rhyl in North Wales in the early hours of May 30 2011.

Chesterfield striker Evans walked into the £92 room where fellow footballer Clayton McDonald was having sex with the woman.

Evans claims Mr McDonald asked the woman whether he could join in, to which she looked up at him and replied: "Yes."

He insists he had consensual sex with the woman before getting up and leaving via a fire exit door after realising he was cheating on his girlfriend.

Prosecutors allege the complainant was too drunk to consent to sex and awoke hours later confused and alone in the room.

During his retrial, Evans told Cardiff Crown Court the woman was no drunker than him or Mr McDonald.

High Court Judge Mrs Justice Nicola Davies told the jury of seven men and five women that the issue of consent was central to the case.

She said Evans should be found guilty if he did not reasonably believe the complainant, who cannot be named, was consenting.

However, she told the jury that drunken consent was still consent - and if the jury believe that was the case than Evans is not guilty.

"Your decision must be made calmly, objectively and without emotion," she said.

"You are not here to judge the morals of any person in this case and this includes the complainant and the defendant.

"You are to try this case on the evidence you hear in this court in this trial and nothing else."

Jurors have been told that Mr McDonald was acquitted of raping the woman during a trial at Caernarfon Crown Court in 2012.

Evans was convicted of the charge at that trial. His conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal.
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His retrial began at Cardiff Crown Court on October 4.

The court heard Evans had been on a night out in Rhyl, his hometown with friends including Mr McDonald.

Before hitting the town, Evans paid £92 for a room at the Premier Inn for Mr McDonald, whom he had first met when the pair played for Manchester City's youth team.

The complainant was also out that night, consuming a large glass of wine, four double vodka and lemonades and a shot of sambuca.

She was seen on CCTV staggering outside a nightclub named Zu Bar, as well as falling over in The Godfather kebab shop.

After leaving the kebab shop, the woman got into a taxi with Mr McDonald and went back to the Premier Inn.

During the journey Mr McDonald texted Evans: "I've got a bird."

Evans later arrived at the hotel in a taxi, along with his younger brother and a friend, and obtained a key for the room after telling the night receptionist that his friend no longer needed it.

The St Asaph-born player claimed he had turned up at the hotel primarily to inform Mr McDonald that one of their group had been arrested.

However, he said he had been "childish" to walk into the hotel room when suspecting that Mr McDonald may be having sex.

Evans's younger brother, Ryan Roberts, and a friend watched through the window of the room, using a mobile phone light to see inside and film.

Mr McDonald later left the hotel via the main entrance, with Evans following minutes later through the fire exit door.

Both men then walked to Evans's family home and stayed there. They were arrested the following day.

Giving evidence, Evans told the jury: "I wouldn't have sex with anyone that wasn't consenting."

At the time of the alleged rape, Evans was in a relationship with Natasha Massey. They are still together, plan to marry and have a nine-month-old son.</s>FORMER Sheffield United footballer Ched Evans has been cleared of raping a teenager in a hotel in north Wales following a two week retrial at Cardiff Crown Court.

The Wales international and Chesterfield striker, who fought a five year battle to clear his name, wept and hugged his partner Natasha Massey following the verdict at Cardiff Crown Court.

Evans, 27, had admitted to having sex with the teenager in a hotel in Rhyl, north Wales, and cheating on his girlfriend in the process, but always insisted it had been consensual.

He had maintained his innocence from the very outset - saying the woman had invited him to “join in” a 4am romp with a fellow footballer.

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 soccer star’s honesty.

Mr Evans bowed his head as the jury foreman returned the verdict of not guilty.

Claps could be heard from the public gallery following the acquittal.

Mrs Justice Nicola Davies told Mr Evans: “Mr Evans you are discharged and you can leave the dock.”

It took the jury three hours to reach their not guilty verdict.

Today’s dramatic conclusion comes at the end of a five-year fight by Evans to clear his name. This is how events in the case unfolded:
• May 30 2011 - Evans and his friend, footballer Clayton McDonald, have sex with a woman at a Premier Inn, near Rhyl, North Wales.
• May 31 - Evans, then a Sheffield United striker, and McDonald, who was playing for Port Vale, are both arrested. They are later charged.
• April 20 2012 - Evans is convicted of raping a 19-year-old woman and sentenced to five years in prison following a trial at Caernarfon Crown Court. Co-accused McDonald is found not guilty.
• May 30 - Evans, who has been capped 13 times by Wales, is released by Sheffield United at the end of the football season.
• November 6 - The Court of Appeal refuses him leave to appeal his conviction or reduce the length of his sentence.
• October 17 2014 - Evans is released from prison after serving half of his sentence.
• November 11 - Sheffield United faces a public backlash after saying it would let him train with them, an offer it later withdrew. TV presenter and club patron Charlie Webster quits and Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill demands her name be taken off the Bramall Lane stand in protest.
• January 8 2015 - Oldham Athletic pulls out of a deal to sign Evans following another public backlash.
• October 5 - Evans’s case is referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Case Review Commission on the basis of new information after a 10-month investigation.
• March 22 2016 - The appeal hearing is held at the High Court in London.
• April 21 - Evans wins appeal against conviction and is granted unconditional bail. The footballer faces a re-trial at Cardiff Crown Court before Mrs Justice Nicola Davies.
• May 27 - Evans pleads not guilty to a single charge of rape.
• June 20 - The footballer signs a one year contract with League One side Chesterfield FC.
• July 23 - He scores in his first game in four years during a 3-0 pre-season friendly win for his new club against Ilkeston.
• October 14 - The footballer is cleared after a two-week retrial. The jury deliberated for three hours.</s>The jury in the retrial of the footballer Ched Evans has retired to consider whether he is guilty or not guilty of raping a 19-year-old waitress in a hotel room in north Wales.

Evans, 27, who has played for Wales, Manchester City and Sheffield United, was convicted in 2012 of raping the woman at a hotel in Rhyl, but cleared on appeal.



During the retrial the jury has been told that the woman went back to a hotel with Evans’ friend and fellow footballer, Clayton McDonald. Later, Evans lied to get a key card to the room the pair were in and walked in as they were having sex.

Evans claims McDonald asked her: “Can my mate join in?” and she agreed. He had sex with her before leaving by a fire exit. He maintains the woman consented and denies rape.

The woman told the court she woke up the next morning with no memory of what had happened to her, and prosecutors allege she was too drunk to consent.

The judge, Mrs Justice Nicola Davies, told the jury of seven women and five men that the issue of consent was central. She said Evans should be found guilty if he did not reasonably believe the complainant, who cannot be named, was consenting.

However, she told the jurors at Cardiff crown court that drunken consent was still consent – and if they believed that was the case then Evans was not guilty.

The jurors were given a “route to verdict” by the judge, who said they had to answer three questions – whether the complainant consented to having sex with Evans; whether the defendant did not genuinely believe she had consented; and whether his belief in her consent was unreasonable – before they could reach a verdict.

“Your decision must be made calmly, objectively and without emotion,” she said. “You are not here to judge the morals of any person in this case and this includes the complainant and the defendant.

“You are to try this case on the evidence you hear in this court in this trial and nothing else.”</s>Ched Evans will be free to line-up against Coventry City in January after being found not guilty of rape after a two week retrial.

The Wales international, who fought a five year battle to clear his name, wept and hugged his partner Natasha Massey following the verdict at Cardiff Crown Court.

Coventry City are due to take on Evans’ Chesterfield in League One at the Proact Stadium on January 14 and the Spireites striker will now be available for the clash.

Evans, 27, had admitted to having sex with the teenager in a hotel in Rhyl, north Wales, and cheating on his girlfriend in the process, but always insisted it had been consensual.

He had maintained his innocence from the very outset - saying the woman had invited him to “join in” a 4am romp with a fellow footballer.

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 soccer star’s honesty.
A retrial court finds Welsh footballer Ched Evans not guilty. He had previously been sentenced to five years imprisonment for rape in 2012.