An aide to business secretary Vince Cable has reportedly said that footballer Ched Evans was probably not guilty of rape, a crime that he was given a five-year prison sentence for.
Andy Ormerod-Cloke, a civil servant who currently serves as private secretary to Cable, tweeted the remark during Thursday’s episode of BBC One’s Question Time, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.
“It does read badly – particularly the appeal. I’d query how many have looked at the details rather than symbolism of rapist-footballer,” he commented. “If guilty then never a footballer again – role model argument – but on the facts of the case, probably not guilty.”
Ormerod-Cloke subsequently deleted the tweets. A spokeswoman for Vince Cable said: “The member of staff regrets his actions and has apologised. We now consider the matter closed.”
Earlier this week League One football club Oldham Athletic abandoned an attempt to sign former Sheffield United player Evans – who served half of his sentence for raping a 19-year-old woman in Wales in 2012 – after “enormous pressure from sponsors and threats to staff and their families”.
After the deal collapsed, Evans – who is currently appealing his conviction for a second time – apologised for the first time for “effects that night in Rhyl has had on many people, not least the woman concerned”.
He maintained his innocence, but distanced himself from those hounding the victim on social media. He said: “Upon legal advice, I was told not to discuss the events in question. This silence has been misinterpreted as arrogance and I would like to state that this could not be further from the truth.”
