Ched Evans

[duke63]

Before anyone says otherwise, I would never condone any one who raped another but isn't the very public vilification of Ched Evans becoming slightly distasteful?

Whatever he may have done, he has served his sentence handed down to him by society and surely should at least have a right to be able to earn a living from his profession when released and perhaps become a reformed character. The fact that his profession is a very public one is not something that he can control.

The only alternative is that he lives off benefits for the rest of his life. How many 'dustman/postman' etc are their out there that have been convicted of the same crime?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30046618" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And just to confuse further, his case is currently being fast tracked through the 'miscarriage of justice' system. If he is subsequently found to be innocent, what then? Will he be able to sue all these trying to prevent him earning a living?

[Kwacky]

I've been having this argument on twitter for a couple of days.

He did a crime, he served his sentence. Rape is a horrendous crime. There's no getting away from that. But now he's been punished he should be back in society and working, otherwise there's no point in having a punishment system in place.

I think it's the fact he's a footballer that gets on peoples nerves.

[Perkles]

I thought he should be allowed to get on with his life today after listening to it on the radio

[Deegee]

I'm no fan of footy and have little or no time for footballers, however as Kwacky says he's done his time, that should be the end of it, the logical extrapolation of some of the comments I've seen in the media about this would have every law breaker doing a lifetime of penance regardless of severity of crime. If that were the case there's no point in having a Justice or penal system and we would see no rehabilitation of offenders either - leading to a lifetime of offending.

If we take the view that a victims life has been irreparably damaged, then the Banks/Bankers that caused the 2008 crash are due a long spell in jail as well, no one was raped as a result of that, but I'm sure there was a suicide or two and plenty of people lost their homes, businesses and sanity, I'm fairly sure they count as damaged lives as well, albeit in a different way to the Evans case.

He's a high profile case, in a job perceived as being overpaid and privileged, it's walking back into that situation that is fuelling people's opinions I think. My logical and emotional sides are in disagreement about this, I'm glad there's more logical people out there than knee jerk emotionalists.

[D41]

Sex with a 19 year-old in a hotel room??

I call bogus on any rape taking place.....frankly I'm surprised the Court made the charges stick.....rape is an incredibly difficult & technical crime to prove, unless violence is involved....and that's usually the exception to the rule.

This was a young girl who regretted what she did...she prolly expected some kind of relationship with a famous footballer and struck back with a rape claim when things didn't pan out.

[rocket]

Hmmm im not sure. I agree with what you are saying with regards to served his time but i live in Sheffield and i find it difficult to think that he could have a place on a team in front of kids knowing he is a rapist. Its not the fact he earns the money its the fact that football players get idealised and allowing someone who's has committed such a disgusting crime to return to that sort of figure head i don't think that's right.

He was also getting paid his wages while locked up by united but i guess that's all to do with contracts.

[Kwacky]

I don't follow that line. It's up to parents to tell their kids what is right and wrong. Besides, you can tell your kids he committed a crime and was punished.

I don't remember people crashing cars and killing people when Lee Hughes returned to football. So it can work.

[rocket]

I really don't want to have to explain to my son at an early age what a rapist is .. full stop.

[bb41]

From a woman's perspective and mother of a daughter who is a rape crisis counsellor as well, I have followed this story quite a bit and I somehow feel quite uncomfortable about it

I believe I'm right that the case is being fast tracked to go over the evidence again.

I am an advocate of never put yourself in a situation where you give one impression one minute then another afterwards as in this case. I do believe the woman was caught up in the glamour of being with this guy but then realised for whatever reason she'd made not such a clever choice later

It was said in court she was too drunk to give consent, but the video of them walking together did not show this as she certainly would of passed a sobriety test.

Now if she was forced into this then he deserves all he gets but I somehow think there is more to this than meets the eye,He has vehemently denied the allegations . I think though he would have been better to take a back seat in such a high profile career and wait until all court process's have run their course .

What if he wasn't guilty,? too many girls who have made false allegations and have still kept their anonymity which is wholly unfair.

I have 2 girls and when they do go out , they go in a mixed group and not one of them would allow another to go off with a stranger when they are rat arsed, it just wouldn't happen

[Kwacky]

I really don't want to have to explain to my son at an early age what a rapist is .. full stop.

I understand that. I don't know how old your son is.

I've already had to explain it to my kids. I had a frank discussion with my 11 year old daughter. Told her exactly what rape is. Some might think she's too young but those who know my girl know how sensible and mature she is.

When my 8 yr old lad asked I told him that the footballer had hurt a woman and had a chat about the wrongs of doing things people don't want you to do.

There is no right way to deal with these issues. We know our own kids and how to tackle difficult subjects. My personal approach has always been to answer the questions as best as I can.

[bb41]

I also answered any questions full on and concisely.

I remember my youngest at 16 telling me about a lad who wanted her to stay over After nearly fainting I explained that although bodies were physically capable but minds needed to be treated more gently and although it was probably what they both wanted if they sat and thought about it a bit more then it probably wasn't one of their brighter ideas.

Then I thought back to when I was 16 and was with their dad, I think we forget as parents that we were no different when we were starting out, I just wished I had such close communication as mine does with me.

Each parent deals with things differently as each child is different and unless you are an utter arsehole of a parent we all know what capacity our kids minds can take on board

[D41]

I used to buy my supplies from a guy who turned out to be a pedo....little boys were his thing.

He got busted, and charged with two counts of "Oral copulation with a minor". Trouble is, he just buggered off back to El Salvador, where he's prolly still doing such disgusting things.

[duke63]

I really don't want to have to explain to my son at an early age what a rapist is .. full stop.

You cannot stop your kids seeing the bad things in this world because they happen regardless.

The thing with the Evans case I cannot understand is if the girl was too drunk to say no to Evans how did she say yes to the other guy in the room?

Or have i got the facts wrong?

[DaytonAndy]

https://www.crimeline.info/case/r-v-che ... dwyn-evans" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Blade]

Tbh I can see all sides of this debate and personally im not sure what the right thing is to do here, although I can appreciate Rockets position on the subject. If he is truly guilty of rape beyond any doubt I have no sympathy for him. I understand he has served his punishment and in theory should be allowed the chance to become a reformed member of society and if this is not the case it defeats the purpose of the punishment and justice system. However personally and I think a large proportion of society may agree with me in not always wanting to accept the justice system as in my opinion some crimes are unforgivable and a line had been crossed. For me rapists and people who physical or sexually abuse woman and children are beyond forgiveness. Not looking for agreement that's just my personal opinion and accept others will disagree.

[Perkles]

it amazes me people in such high profile jobs would be stupid enough to put themselves in such a dodgy predicament
what are they thinking ffs

[C00kiemonster]

I really don't want to have to explain to my son at an early age what a rapist is .. full stop.

I understand that. I don't know how old your son is.

I've already had to explain it to my kids. I had a frank discussion with my 11 year old daughter. Told her exactly what rape is. Some might think she's too young but those who know my girl know how sensible and mature she is.

When my 8 yr old lad asked I told him that the footballer had hurt a woman and had a chat about the wrongs of doing things people don't want you to do.

There is no right way to deal with these issues. We know our own kids and how to tackle difficult subjects. My personal approach has always been to answer the questions as best as I can.

Totally agree. Before they become attractive to men, girls need to know what can happen if they are not sensible or streetwise.

My girls have always been very open with me and as a father it can be especially difficult to see your growing up little girls becoming women where boys and then men start to take an interest in them.

Both my girls (now 19 and 21) have had unwelcome advances and have had to deal with them and have told me about it. Probably more than once. The buses tend to be the worst places.

The girls have had 'friends' stay since they were about 16, but we made sure they slept downstairs for a while until we thought they were more serious. I also had a quiet chat with any of them to ensure they understood what their situation could be if they misbehaved

What our kids worked out early in their teenage years is men are nothing special in general and the girls usually go out with a group of their friends, who look after each other and their drinks etc. The social group they go out with is key.

Doesn't stop me worrying about them though

[Blade]

it amazes me people in such high profile jobs would be stupid enough to put themselves in such a dodgy predicament
what are they thinking ffs

Probably just p1$$ed tbh as like most of us we can make very stupid decisions when drunk.

[Kwacky]

That's pretty much it Blade. I've woken up a few times with a girl in my bed and I remember fooling about but couldn't honestly say how far it went I've been that smashed. It's nothing to be proud of (if my wife is reading this) but we've all done foolish things. Alcohol is no defence and no excuse but we're more likely to act in a way we wouldn't when booze becomes involved.

[D41]

it amazes me people in such high profile jobs would be stupid enough to put themselves in such a dodgy predicament
what are they thinking ffs

Probably just p1$$ed tbh as like most of us we can make very stupid decisions when drunk.

Yep.....my mates and I were just talking about that the other night......we'll go out and have a pint or two and it's no issue...but we're all 40ish or over....the younguns go out and go crazy.....I don't know if that's an intolerance to alcohol, or just their level of maturity....or a combination of the two.