A defence witness in the retrial of Ched Evans has been accused of lying in court to secure a £50,000 reward for information leading to the footballer’s acquittal.
The witness, who gave evidence about a sexual encounter he had with Evans’s alleged victim, insisted he had not received any money.
Evans, who has played for Manchester City, Sheffield United and Wales, denies raping a 19-year-old waitress after a drunken night out in the seaside town of Rhyl, north Wales, in 2011.
The woman had told the jury she woke up naked in a hotel room with no memory of getting there and fearing she had been attacked after her drinks were spiked. The prosecution argues she could not have consented to sex because she was too intoxicated.
Evans was convicted in 2012 but his conviction was quashed by the court of appeal and his retrial is taking place at Cardiff crown court.
The footballer, 27, has told the jury the woman consented to sex and he has said she took the lead and told him to “fuck me harder”.
On day five of the retrial, a man, who cannot be identified, told the jury he had sex with the woman two weeks after the alleged rape. He said they went back to his home after a night out. He claimed she “directed” the sex and used the same phrase Evans said she used with him.
Prosecuting counsel Simon Medland QC said the witness made three statements on the case, the first shortly after Evans’s conviction in May 2012. Medland said the witness had not mentioned the phrase at that point.
It was not until September 2013, when giving a statement to a private investigator, that the man said the alleged victim had used the phrase with him.
The man confirmed he knew of a website set up to try to clear Evans’ name and that a reward of £50,000 was on offer.
Medland said: “I’m going to ask you a straight question. Have you received any money?” The witness replied: “No.”
“Has any money been offered to you?”
“No.”
The prosecutor said the man had been unemployed in 2015 and asked: “Would you agree with me that £50,000 is a lot of money?” The man answered: “Yes.”
Medland then said: “You’ve invented that phrase in light of a desire to help Ched Evans.” The man replied: “No.” The barrister continued: “[The alleged victim] didn’t say that.” “She did,” replied the witness.
Medland concluded: “I’m going to suggest you have made that up deliberately to help the defendant.” The man denied the statement.
Questioned by Evans’s barrister, Judy Khan QC, the witness said the focus of the first statement he gave had been on whether the victim struggled to remember sexual encounters the morning after.
He said if he had been asked the detail of what was said during sex he would have given it. The witness said he could remember the words she had used clearly.
Khan told the witness it was being suggested he had lied on oath and asked if he had any criminal convictions. He replied: “No.”
Earlier on Tuesday Evans concluded his evidence. He insisted the woman had consented to sex. “I wouldn’t hurt a girl,” he said.
During cross-examination he said he did not believe footballers were entitled to act as he had that night. He was asked by the prosecutor about remarks he made to the police that footballers were rich and that this was what women liked.
Evans said the statement was cringeworthy. “I wasn’t expecting it to be read out in court,” he said. “I don’t think footballers are entitled to anything.”
The footballer has told the jury that he let himself into the hotel room without knocking. His friend and fellow footballer, Clay McDonald, and the woman were having sex, he said. “They both looked at me. Clay looked at her and said: ‘Can my mate join in?’ She looked at me and said: ‘Yes.’”
During the cross-examination, Medland asked him if it would have been a “good idea” if he asked if she minded having unprotected sex. Evans replied: “ I didn’t ask the question ... It wasn’t the right moment to ask the question.” He conceded he had not spoken to the woman at all during the encounter.
The trial continues.
