Footballer found guilty of rape

[margerykemp]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17781842

Ched Evans has been found guilty of rape and has Benin given 5 years. His co- accused was acquitted though for reasons that don't appear clear.

Hopefully this is a sign that our justice system is entering the 21st century, mini step at a time.

I know they're all guilty, I'm not saying that only the first tweeter should be arrested, but the way this works is usually they'll track down the original tweeter first.

It's possible that without that first tweet, it may not have happened at all, so it's important to get that first tweeter.

I'm afraid Twitter can have a 'Pied Piper' effect, one person tweets something, someone retweets it, and then before long it's doing the rounds. Sometimes people don't even consider what it is what they're retweeting. I'm NOT excusing anyone when I say that BTW, anyone who retweeted it is complicit, whether they truly understood the probably ramifications of it or not.

*probable

I just wonder what the impact of all this will be on rape cases generally.

Urgh. Just read a horrific blog entry.

I won't link to it, as the blog entry names the girl (I've forwarded a link to the relevant police force, in case they haven't been made aware of it), but here's the post with a "fake" name in its place:

**

Ched Evans, Mary Smith and Judge Merfyn Hughes

The speed with which yesterday's news broke meant that of necessity the initial story had to be brief. Moreover, in best practice, I have been fossicking about for additional information. Here goes - Mary Smith made three previous rape allegations. During the course of the "trial" of Ched Evans she mentioned that she would get a "big win" - to my mind either blackmail or sell her story to the red tops. When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. The injustice here is that Ched was not granted anonymity whilst Mary Smith was. The injustice is that false rape claimants are not punished. I am in a quandary over John Philpotts the prosecutor. Did he really believe the witness testimony? Now to Judge Merfyn Hughes. His summation was farcical "You have thrown away a successful career" No Hughes, you did that. Wouldn't it be a pity if the public took the law into their own hands and targetted him? Same with Lord Falconer who said that Twitter "name and shame" accounts were illegal. Fuck you, Your Honour. @jamieduckworth is suspended as is @BroxtedMax but others are there.

In fact, wrapping up for now I notice @officerwhoever, @TheGuv_ (that idiot "Gene Hunt), @Loumat33 and @phoenixrising all being onanists. I call on my fellow Sheffield United supporters, Welsh patriots and others to fuck them over.

**

Surely this is hate speech?

@SQ - I think my worry is, this could put even more women off reporting rape, because it's feasible that this could become a "weapon" to try and torment women (perhaps in order to get her to drop charges).

There is nothing to stop the friend of someone charged with rape, tweeting something like, 'that slag Mary Smith has accused my friend Pete of rape', and before long Mary Smith's name could be tweeted by people that don't even know her.

God knows what that would do to Mary Smith.

I'm sure I'm over-thinking it, but at the same time, I know what Twitter can be like at its worst.

Just seen this tweeted... "If your not bhind #justiceforched I hope you feel disgusted for backin a liar makin a joke out of REAL victim cases."

:( So, it's OK to send the message victims won't be believed out there?

The thing is that in most cases I imagine a few people know who the victim is.
Now the idea is you can publish that on the net.
It will make people think twice, that's for sure.

The guy who made that blog post, is the founder of the 'Justice for Ched' campaign, and from a quick search it appears to me he made the original tweet.

Three men in Sheffield have been arrested for naming the victim on Twitter. www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/26/ched-evans-rape-twitter-investigation

Tut. I got a slap on the wrist from twitter for challenging rape myths directly... Tut.

It gets worse.

Supporters planning support for Evans at match today

It's from the Daily Fail but worth a read. For those who don't want to open a Daily Fail link, basically the supporters will break out in applause for Evans during the 9th minute (9 was his shirt number) and 35th minute (as he had scored 35 goals for them this season).

The article ends with this...

Within hours of the verdict, an internet backlash against the rape victim had begun. Her name was being circulated so widely that it is understood to have been one of the words ?trending? (meaning it was one of the most widely used) on Twitter.

A number of footballers joined the campaign, including a team-mate of Ched Evans, who has now been suspended by Sheffield United.

The victim is currently ?on leave? from her job.

?She does not want to speak to the media,? her sister told us when we contacted the family. ?She is trying to get on with her life and put all this behind her. It has been a terrible time.?

A friend added: ?People are slagging her off on the internet and it?s terrifying her. She has become a hate figure. And it?s so unfair when you think about what the poor girl has been through.

?She was raped and then she had to go through the ordeal of the legal process, which felt like she was being raped all over again.

?If that wasn?t traumatic enough, she has also been identified. She just wants to get away from here now and rebuild her life.?

The story is already a shameful one. But the perhaps the most shameful episode is still to unfold ? at around 5.30pm in Sheffield this afternoon.

The 'Justice for Ched' campaign are still peddling the lie that the victim is planning to sell her story to a Sunday tabloid, despite her sister being clear, that she has no desire to speak to the media.

My heart already goes out to the victim, now even more so, being identified and vilified like she is, must feel like being raped all over again.

I hope the bastards who "outed" her are all named, shamed and jailed.

I can understand his sisters anguish. It can't be easy finding out your brother's a rapist. But the hate campaign she's preaching is unacceptable. :( The whole week has been so awful, seeing it unfold.

Im willing to bet that the "people" orchestrating this campaign are pushing her and pushing her in the hope that she does go to the media herself (thats part of the reason theyve deliberately "outed" her on twitter) they are hoping that she feels left with no other choice and does go to the media so instead of just making out she is a gold digger and a liar they can put their "official stamp" on it. Manipulative and disgusting.

Just been on twitter and am heartened to see a lot of anti Ched Evans tweets from men as well. It's not everyone thankfully.

DH has a friend who plays for a League One team (same league as Sheff Utd), and he told us their manager said, if it had been them playing SU today, he would have instructed his players to walk off the pitch.

Anyway, that said, it appears from Twitter that there was no real audible support for Ched Evans, just a small bunch of idiots singing 'Ched Evans, Ched Evans, he shags who he wants'.

It does very much seem this is a small minority of SUFC fans.

Of course, this doesn't change the fact, they're still continuing their torture of this young woman online.

Oh and SUFC are losing!

I just cannot get my head around this. I don't think anyone would expect to 'win big' from accusing someone of rape. As was said before she would just do a kiss and tell. I also don't think someone targeting a footballer for a pay out would do so with a league one footballer in Rhyl. That theory does not add up.

A lot of people are saying that if one was found innocent why was the other. To me they should both have been found guilty. What kind of mine would want to have sex with someone who can barely stand? Clearly one that want to dominate the woman.

I really feel sorry for this girl. To be raped then publicly abused because the rapist plays football. It's disgusting. What kind of low life attack someone because they were raped. I really hope this does not frighten anyone that has been raped and stop them from reporting it. The worst thing is its not just low life make football fans. WAG Nicola McLean has been tweeting about this case stating she believes he is innocent.

What can be done to stop this happening again? Perhaps the police should advise those that are victims of this type of crime/involved in cases should shut down their social network accounts. Would it even make any difference?

I doubt it would make any different, because so many people use them, that even if the victim didn't access the sites, they'd become aware of what was being said.

One of her family members actually joined Twitter briefly, to try and defend her, but he soon left because of the abuse he was getting. It was disgusting.

it is actually breathtaking, this.

even when rapists are bang to rights, it's their victims who are vilified.

lots of people really do think men have the right to rape any woman who is not the official property of another man.

I wish all the people who thought that feminists exaggerate the level of support there is for rapists, were right. I wish this whole display of hatred for women had n't happened. I wish that teenager had not been subjected to this hate campaign. And I wish those two men hadn't been so steeped in misogyny, that they thought they had the right to penetrate the body of a young woman who was in no state to even passively consent to a sexual act, let alone actively, happily participate in it (which would be the default for all sex in a society that did n't hate women)

Ched Evans' sister has blocked me on Twitter, because I dared call her out!