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So a footballer, Ched Evans, was convicted of rape. That means he is a rapist – he did it and the girl he raped is a victim.
This is how justice works in this country. At this stage there isn’t any doubt about it. It has been proven in a court of law.
Why then yesterday, when the verdict was announced, was Twitter awash with vile comment from Sheffield United and Wales fans? They revealed the name of his victim – when victims of sex crimes are guaranteed anonymity – but more than that, they subjected her to a revolting tide of abuse, like it was her fault; her they were angry with.
Police are investigating and I hope very much arrests and convictions will follow.
But I had a look on Twitter today, out of curiosity. There’s still a steady stream of messages under the hashtag #justiceforched. What? There is no injustice, he was not the victim. What idiotic call for justice is this?
This rapist was the best hope of his teams’ success on the football pitch and thousands of fans are bitterly disappointed about that. They are the ones who must grow up and deal with it – attacking, by whatever means, a woman who has been through the worst ordeal isn’t going to help. That would be the action of morons, wouldn’t it?
When I started writing this post I was all set to make a comparison with other heroes who show themselves to be scumbags in one way or another – Dennis Waterman, Mel Gibson, Chris Brown, Tiger Woods et al. But actually that’s not what it’s about.
Instead, here’s what it’s about:
Rape is a horrible crime, rightly, punishable by imprisonment.
No one was ever asking to be raped – not ever.
If your hero is a rapist, get him down off his pedestal at once…
Then, direct your anger at him, not his victim. There are no excuses.
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Fantastic post honey, well said. I hear today he has no idea why he is in prison. The answer is simple, you're a beast, the same as the other beasts in your nick. You deserve everything you get and more. It's hard enough for women to come forward after such horrific crimes without the threat of having their lives turned into an internet sensation with vile cowards hiding behind the apron strings of anonymity to post inhuman comments. This arse could put a stop to this from his cell in one act of genuine remorse for his sickening crime, but the cowardly shite doesn't. I hope the beast haters in our jails take a good long look at him and test him on the theory that no means no or ask him about consent as he faces prisoner justice. If he leaves his cell door open then is that implying consent. If he showers naked then he is asking for it presumably, This has really made me angry by the way. PoN
Well done Ellen. On the button, as ever. x
Ched Evans is a stupid idiot who took advantage of a drunk girl, but calling him a scumbag is going to far. There are solid grounds for reasonable doubt on whether Ched reasonably believed she was consenting and whether she was in a fit state to actually consent. There is also the argument that the jury misunderstood the judges direction and this was one of the avenues his defence team were talking about before the appeal was submitted. It's unwise to be overly critical or condemning, at this point, as there is at least a reasonable chance that this conviction will be deemed unsafe.
The unquestioning support for jury verdicts is simply nauseating. If that was the case then there would be no need for appeals, which would be discredited by the countless miscarriage of justices down the years. Jury's are frequently wrong and can be affected by prejudice or overbearing charismatic jurors who influence the decisions of others on the panel. Jury's amount to a lottery and there would have been many jury's who would have acquitted both defendants, in this case, despite the same evidence being presented by the crown.
Also the people who revealed the complainants name are idiots who deserve to have their collars felt. They should, but obviously don't have the intelligence, to realise that it was counter productive.
Thank you.
Firstly, what's the difference between rape and taking advantage of a drunk girl?
Secondly, scumbag is my opinion of this person and I'm sticking to it.
Thirdly, until Evans' verdict is overturned in some way his is ipso facto a rapist. It would be hard to consider a rapist as anything other than a scumbag.
Within an imperfect world, a perfect system of justice is going to be impossible. The system we have in this country is as effective as any. Of course, it must have an appeal system for myriad reasons other than that the defendant doesn't like the jury's verdict.
Agree.