AIBU to be very pleased that Sheffield Utd have recognised that the rapist Ched Evans is toxic

[WeirdCatLady]

Very good news.

Good to see some sense being shown (finally).

The rapist Ched Evans will not be signed by Sheffield United because of the 'toxic' reaction to their (stupid) plan.

Not really no.

BBC article on SUFC's statement here

It also includes a promise to ban from Bramall Lane anyone found to have been sending abusive messages.

Well that sounds a bit better, chaya. It's funny though how he can stand up for financial backers but not for a fucking rape victim though. Repulsive twat.

Good news but sad that they didn't do from the beginning off their own back.

Interesting that they will band a fan for life for threatening rape but not a person who actually commits it.

MissPenelope I am quite uncomfortable with the idea being bandied around that he should go off and play abroad for some years and then return to see how it goes here. I think that is very unfair on the unsuspecting female population of wherever he might end up.

It would be a bit ironic if his girlfriend's father's expensive campaign misfired and resulted in him being so notorious the world over that he was unable to get any contract and effectively ended his playing career.

I really find it hard to get my head around someone's father paying for a campaign for a convicted rapist. Even if he hadn't been convicted or even charged, the fact that he's the sort of man who takes young girls to hotel rooms for sex...I don't mix in those kind of circles and many people don't, but you would think he would want better for his own daughter.

And the shelling out of money just so his daughter can have a footballer boyfriend...it makes them seem so desperate. Its just so utterly bizarre. Its not as if he is her husband or something, its like paying for her to keep a man, and not even a very desirable man at that.

Yes, that is what is so distasteful (to say that least) about his family's campaign and their exoneration of him (not to mention his pathetic apology). Even if it wasn't rape (and it bloody well was), he is still a misogynist sexual predator.

SU just put out a statement on that - they meant that the sponsors etc had been bullied for their views on the rapist Ched Evans and that that was unacceptable. (so the opposite of what you inferred)

Ah yes, hmmmm the tweets don't quite read that way, when read in context.........particularly the ones where he says (to paraphrase): I believe I a system that punishes but also rehabilitates, I don't believe in throwing people away nor do i agree with bullying tactics used by some to get their own way.

But i accept that perhaps I have interpreted them incorrectly, they are ambiguous at best.

Still wonder why he is so upset when the 'bullying' affects his football team, but would have had no problems signing Evans who has never apologised fr the life ruining bullying of his victim. And the irony of saying they will ban anyone who threatens rape from the grounds, but was seemingly prepared to allow someone who had alread committed rape to play on the pitch!

but you would think he would want better for his own daughter.

The fact that he doesn't I just find plain sinister.

Shit finds its own level. Quite frankly Daddy and girlfriend found theirs with the rapist.

It's bad enough that a father wants his daughter to be famous for marrying a footballer, to be famous for marrying a rapist...? She's so young too. Most fathers would be telling her too young to be marrying anyway. And, if he's so rich, why does she "need" to marry a footballer?

In any case she's not going to be marrying a footballer, not in UK, anyway.

He won't need a visa to play in the EU, I'd guess he'll end up in Eastern Europe.

skylark2 - No, they are at no risk of legal action if they refuse to sign him again. "Discrimination" against ex-offenders is not illegal. Some people think it should be t least if they are legally "rehabilitated" - which CE is not and never will be even when his licence expires.

If before that time he gets an offer from a club abroad he will need approval from Probation to go. Not sure whether I think they should give it.

SevenZarkSeven ^

I do wonder though, with his money and his FIL money how have they not hired an excellent team of PR for him?^

Indeed. What about that nice Mr Clifford? Oh no, sorry, I forgot . . .

It is astonishing. You would think the money could have been used to help her take up a nice hobby or go somewhere interesting to do some kind of qualification, where she could have met nice, normal, well adjusted non-criminal types any maybe bolstered her self esteem to help her see through cheating criminals. But no. Daddy funds a campaign to have a rapist rehabilitated, predictably fails and makes his daughter a laughing stock. Just how do you make money with an inability to spot and write off a bad loss before it ruins you?

No, don't answer that. I think its obvious how he made this money.

I have mixed feelings on this, on the one hand part of me is glad his football career may be over and he has no one to blame but himself. On the other, the more pragmatic side of me thinks had he been a van driver he'd have been able to return to work and nobody would care.

He has served his time and is being punished again which seems wrong. I know people will say he is in a privileged position as footballers are well paid, or even over paid, but that's hardly his fault.

Perhaps if he'd have been given a sentence which reflected the seriousness of his crime in the first place the debate over whether he should return to football wouldn't have had to take place?

Its not really a valid argument lurker. Many people would be disbarred from my profession if I got any kind of serious conviction, even if they weren't jailed. I'm talking about teachers, chemists, doctors, lawyers, accountants - anyone who works in a profession that has a professional association. No-one is barring Ched Evans from his profession, it is more that marketing such a large part of modern football that he has effectively, by his own actions, reduced his value as a player to the extent that he cannot be used by a club. Even for those working in trades, plenty of employers would sack an employee who got a rape conviction for gross misconduct and they would find it hard to get another job when they got out of jail.

I agree there is an argument for rehabilitation of offenders, but when there is such a blatant engagement in denial such as this, its hardly going to be applicable, is it?

He can still rehabilitate himself by obtaining other employment and playing as an amateur or following the very good suggestion of going overseas where he is less notorious.

Athletes are commonly banned for drugs offences, Oscar Pistorius is banned from the Olympics and Paralympics and his career is effectively at an end; I don't see why a second rate footballer deserves special treatment.

I went onto that odious website of his. I felt physically sick when I read some of the drivel on there.

I'm all for rehabilitation but, as someone else said on another thread, first he has to acknowledge what he did was wrong and call off the hunt against his poor victim, and make some effort to make amends.

Once he has done that, then his rehabilitation can begin.

I'm not holding my breath.

It really couldn't get more than ironic that somebody will be barred for life for tweeting rape threats but a convicted rapist who has been sent to prison for rape might or might not be allowed to train with the club and might or might not be offered a contract. Are they all mad at that football club. It seems very far from certain a decision has been made. Although the papers seem to think it has.

I see your point Chelsy but as far as I know footballers don't have to go through a CRB check and there are no rules within the FA barring convicted rapists.

He can't be rehabilitated as he hasn't admitted his guilt or shown any remorse but as he can't really do that as he intends to make further appeals against his sentence.

The only thing stopping him returning to work is public opinion and the threat of sponsors withdrawing their support which means he is getting special treatment. Treatment other rapists don't get, who are allowed to quietly return to work.

I would be really concerned if that man driving the van that helps me move house or drops off my UPS package was a rapist.

The rapist Ched Evans has brought the publicity on himself by supporting that odious website, his family's hounding of the victim and releasing that pathetic self-pitying video.

I agree he has serve (at least part of) his legal sentence. But I don't have a problem with the moral part of his sentence (which includes showing remorse and not being able to return to his life of privilege) being enforced.

Ched Evans can return quietly to work. Just not anywhere where he can be held up as a role model and haunt the victim when she opens the sports page or turns on the sports news.

The idea that most people who have raped being able to return quietly to work is an absolute myth. And if you accept the life of a professional footballer, you have to accept that your actions ARE going to be more publicly scrutinised.

I don't think Ched Evans was ever a role model, even before his conviction, I'm a football fan but I'd never heard of him until his arrest. He played for a small club in what used to be the third division.

Lurker I see your point Chelsy but as far as I know footballers don't have to go through a CRB check and there are no rules within the FA barring convicted rapists.

Theres no definitive version of what constitutes gross misconduct justifying dismissal either but most employers would agree that it includes a conviction for a serious offence such as rape. I do think many van drivers would struggle to be reinstated after getting out of jail for rape. Its far more than public opinion preventing those convicted of serious offences returning to work - why on earth would an employer choose a convicted rapist out of all possible candidates to do a job? Its an offence involving bad character and lack of moral values.

If the idiot would only admit to his criminality, apologise, genuinely try to make amends and then get his head down and show he actually has an ability to work at a job without being in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, he might actually succeed in not entirely ruining his own career. But he's not going to do that, is he? He's more interested in his public image than playing the sport. Meanwhile his inability to admit he has done something wrong and his appeals are going to waste more years in an already short playing career.

Chelsy he can't really admit his criminality while pursuing an appeal can he?

I think his career is over now, I can't imagine any other club would touch him.

God I would hope that if one of my colleagues were convicted of rape they wouldn't be allowed to come quietly back to work.

And I don't think they would.

The idea that employers routinely hold jobs open for people who have been convicted of serious offences is nonsense. It is a well known issue that people with a criminal record struggle to find employment, even if their conviction is for a non violent offence.

With a rapist you've got a whole bunch of duty of care and H&S things to think about which would be an absolute PITA for many employers. Also you wouldn't want them interacting with the public by themselves as if anything happened your reputation as a company would be shot.

And this is all roles where the people performing them aren't lauded by 1000s of people predominantly men and often young impressionable ones.

I am very pleased to hear this news

of course I would rather that the club had come to this decision as soon as he was sentenced but it shows the power of petitions and people of influence (Jessica Ennis-Hill) can and do change things