Ched Evans and his partner, Natasha
Stuart Gilhooly
A lawyer for a body representing footballers has likened convicted rapist Ched Evans to the Guildford Four as a fourth high-profile Sheffield United patron resigned over the ongoing row.
The Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland defended Evans on their official website, claiming he could be innocent and that even if guilty, he deserves a chance of redemption.
The article written by solicitor Stuart Gilhooly has been removed from the PFAI website but you can read it in full here.
The difficult element of this discussion, though, is the part about the scale of the crime. There are people who will say rape is rape and degrees shouldn’t come into it but in sentencing these issues matter. This crime, as alleged, was at the bottom end. There was no violence and thankfully the victim has no recollection of it. This, I hasten to add, does not make it right, or anything close to it, but it is nonetheless a mitigating factor.
From Jessica Ennis-Hill to Charlie Webster and pretty much every media commentator who has waded into this mire, the horses most of these pundits have mounted are so high, they’ll need a parachute to get down. When sanctimony takes over, there is rarely any real room for serious debate.
It’s not easy to muster up too much sympathy for Evans but there is surely nothing worse than being accused of a crime which you genuinely believe you didn’t commit.
The argument against that is that a jury convicted him of the crime. That’s right. And the same applied to the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six. They got no public sympathy either.
Maybe he is guilty or perhaps he’s innocent, none of us knows for sure. Surely, either way, he deserves a chance at redemption. Don’t we all?Stuart Gilhooly is the solicitor to the PFA Ireland. He is also a journalist and has recently been shortlisted, for the fifth year in succession, a Journalist of the Year at the Irish Magazine Awards.
1. Ched Evans & McDonald both accused of rape because girl too drunk to consent. No question of violence or coercion. Girl remembers nothing
— Stuart Gilhooly (@PFAISolicitor) April 22, 2012
Evans guilty of boorish sexual opportunism no doubt and vile behaviour but this is not a crime. If he is guilty so must McDonald be — Stuart Gilhooly (@PFAISolicitor) April 22, 2012
Mr Gilhooly had also tweeted support of Ched Evans during the trial.
Update:
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William Crawley spoke to Stuart Gilhooly on BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback earlier.
So it wasn’t rape-rape?