Society on trial in Ched Evans case

Ched Evans is not guilty. That’s what a jury decided following the footballer’s retrial last week.

However, the public and media reaction has shown it is very rare for someone to be seen as completely innocent in sexual offence cases.

The 27-year-old was jailed for 30 months in 2012 for raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room. On Friday, following an eight-day trial fraught with controversy, Mr Evans was acquitted.

What followed was a cascade of vile abuse and accusations directed not at Mr Evans but at his alleged victim, a woman who, quite remarkably, had faced forensic examination in open court twice.

She was illegally identified following both trials and now once again faces making a new life for herself.

On top of that she faced a slew of repugnant remarks on social media, with users accusing her of being a liar and worse.

Meanwhile, Mr Evans faced renewed criticism from the national press for his attitude to women, with The Sun going with the headline: ‘He’s cleared of rape but as a slimeball who treats women like dirt, Evans is guilty’.

It would appear that it was not just Mr Evans on trial at Cardiff Crown Court, and now it is time for society’s attitude towards rape and sexual assault to face scrutiny.

The subject is perhaps one of the most difficult and divisive, it is almost taboo, but ultimately if we want to stamp out the attitudes expressed both before and after justice is served we must begin a reasoned debate on identification of the accused, the treatment of victims and the nature of crossexamination.