Rape Trial Sheffield Star 'Did Not Use Woman'

18 April 2012, 15:33 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A court's heard how a Sheffield United footballer went to a hotel room after getting a text from his mate saying "he'd got a bird".

Sheffield United and Wales striker  23 year old Ched Evans, and Port Vale defender Clayton McDonald, also 23, deny the alleged attack on the 19-year-old at a North Wales hotel in May last year.

The woman told police she has no memory of the incident and the prosecution says she was too drunk to consent to sex.

Giving evidence at Caernarfon Crown Court, Evans, of Ashtree Gardens, Millhouse Green, Penistone, South Yorkshire, repeatedly denied accusations that the girl was unconscious, semi-conscious or not in a state to consent to sex.

John Philpotts, prosecuting, said: “She was simply a girl that you and your friend ... you just used her for your own gratification.”

“No, that's not right,” said Evans, wearing a black suit, white shirt and tie.

Asked what condition the girl was in, he replied: “She was not very drunk. She had had a drink but she was not very drunk.”

The court heard that McDonald met the woman and took her back to the room to have sex with her. He then sent a text to Evans to say he had ``got a bird'' and was joined by Evans shortly afterwards.

Evans told the court that he wanted to go back to the room and tell McDonald that one of their friends had been arrested and to see if he knew the girl, as he was a ``local lad''.

He admitted “deceiving” the receptionist to get the key card to the room and then letting himself in and seeing McDonald having sex with the girl, before being invited to join in. Both men admit having sex with the woman but say it was consensual.