Ched Evans: Fans of footballer jailed for rape planning show of support at match today
- Jailed Sheffield United player will be honoured during game this afternoon
- Staged clapping, normally reserved for late legends, will be held twice
By Paul Bracchi
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Ched Evans will be remembered at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane ground this afternoon with a round of applause in the ninth minute of the televised home game, and in the 35th minute.
Why, at those precise moments? Well, Evans wore the coveted number 9 shirt for United and had scored 35 goals for them over the past season. The Welsh international was their star striker, the Wayne Rooney of the team.
Terrace tributes such as staged clapping are normally reserved for giants of the game — great players or managers — who have recently passed away.
Standing by her man: Despite being jailed for raping a teenager, Ched Evans is being supported by his girlfriend Natasha Massey, who has kept this picture of the couple on her Twitter account
Distasteful: Evans celebrates after scoring at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane, where he will be remembered at a game this afternoon with rounds of applause in the ninth and 35th minutes
Ched Evans, for those who may not follow our national sport, has not ‘passed away’, even though we have been referring to him in the past tense.
In fact, he’s being detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure at Altcourse Prison in Liverpool, where he is beginning a five-year sentence following his conviction for rape last week.
The brief, disturbing details are these: The intoxicated victim — who could barely stand up — was initially picked up on a street corner by Evans’s friend, another footballer, who took her back to his hotel for sex before passing her onto Evans.
In other words, the 19-year-old young woman was ‘roasted’ (the term footballers use for group sex) and raped while Evans’s brother and a mate tried to film proceedings on a mobile phone from a window outside the ground-floor room.
Two predatory footballers, then, one teenage girl, and a pair of voyeurs.
Going places: Evans, pictured with Miss Massey admiring a rare 1972 Ferrari, had been tipped to join a Premiership club next season and was in the running to represent Team GB at this summer’s Olympics
Even so, in the eyes of many supporters, the real victim is Evans himself, not to mention their ‘beloved’ Sheffield United, which has been deprived of his services as the side close in on promotion from League One.
So, shortly after kick-off at 5.20pm, a convicted rapist could be lauded at a British football stadium in front of a vast television audience.
The planned tribute has been widely debated on fans’ forums over the past few days.
One message reads: ‘I have been asked to post here on behalf of a Blade (the nickname for Sheffield United fans) who wants as many Blades as possible to give their support for our Ched (live on TV). The match — against Stevenage — is being broadcast on Sky.’
It is only the latest shocking revelation in this still unfolding story.
Tensions: Although supportive, it emerged during the trial that Miss Massey hated Evans going out because ‘girls throw themselves at you’
‘Drunken slag’, ‘tramp’, ‘bitch’ and ‘whore’ are just some of the things the teenager at the centre of the case has been called in a vile internet campaign waged against her.
In the process, even though victims of serious sexual offences are granted lifelong anonymity by the courts, her identity was revealed on social networking site Twitter.
Maybe the culprits weren’t aware of the anonymity law or, more likely, given the ferocity of the personal abuse, they just didn’t care.
Either way, three of the men who allegedly named her (there are literally dozens who did so) have now been arrested.
This disgraceful chain of events, precipitated by Evans’s ignominious downfall, tells us as much about the kind of society we have become as the original crime for which the striker was found guilty at Caernarfon Crown Court.
So how did Evans end up in the dock? The reason — or, at least an explanation for his behaviour — emerged after he was arrested last year.
He claimed (predictably) that the young woman had consented to sex, telling detectives: ‘We could have had any girl we wanted [in the North Wales nightclub where they had spent the evening].
‘We are footballers, that’s how it is. Footballers are rich, they have got money, that’s what girls like.’
Could there be a more sickening illustration of the reckless arrogance that seems to be in the DNA of many modern footballers? It is often the flip side of wealth and celebrity, particularly when it arrives at such a young age.
Evans is from a working-class background in North Wales; his father left home when he was born. Football was the only thing he really knew.
Now just 23, he was earning a cool £20,000 a week at Sheffield United. He drove a Mercedes and a 4×4 Land Rover Defender with personalised number plates bearing his initials CME: Chedwyn Michael Evans.
He had been tipped to join a Premiership club next season and was in the running to represent Team GB at this summer’s Olympics.
High life: Aged just 23, Evans (above) was earning a cool £20,000 a week at Sheffield United and drove a Mercedes and a Land Rover with personalised number plates bearing his initials CME: Chedwyn Michael Evans
He had been leading a glamorous lifestyle with his girlfriend Natasha Massey, 24, a member of the ‘Cheshire Set’, the nouveau riche inhabitants of the ‘golden triangle’ of Wilmslow, Prestbury and Alderley Edge that include soap stars and footballers.
Her father, Karl Massey, is a director of 11 companies, including jewellers Cottrills in Wilmslow. The family home is a £1.5 million property in Alderley Edge, close to the homes of Manchester United stars Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra.
Evans and Miss Massey, who have been dating for two years, were recently pictured together at a ‘Rolex Dinner’ staged by Cotterills, described as ‘an evening of fine dining, fine wines and a tasting of the very best Dom Perignon vintages’.
Astonishingly, Miss Massey and her parents are standing by Evans. This is apparent from a photograph on Miss Massey’s Twitter page, which many women in her position might have hastily removed in the light of what happened.
It shows her holding hands with Evans during a romantic restaurant meal. Underneath, Miss Massey has written gushingly: ‘I have the best family, amazing friends and a gorgeous boyfriend. I’m VERY lucky.’
But away from the chic ‘Cheshire Set’ dinner parties, Evans led a very different life. Miss Massey, it emerged during the trial, hated Evans going out because ‘girls throw themselves at you’.
That didn’t stop him, though. As he told police, he was a footballer, he could have anyone he wanted. On any given night of the week, at bars across the country, there is an almost endless supply of women available to the likes of Ched Evans.
It is a world epitomised perhaps by the favourite drink at one Manchester club called Gold Digger — a cocktail named in honour of the girls who flock there hoping to snare a footballer.
The scene of the rape, though, was not a big city but the North Wales seaside town of Rhyl, where Evans grew up and where his mother still lives.
On the weekend of May 29 last year, Evans returned to his home town for the Bank Holiday with his friend Clayton McDonald, a defender with Port Vale.
The two had been friends since they were juniors in the Manchester City Youth Academy. They had also been on holiday to Miami and Ayia Napa in Cyprus.
The pair had something else in common, too: they once had a ‘threesome’ (Evans’s word) when they lived together early in their footballing careers.
Old habits die hard, it seems. Evans, it was alleged in court, had booked a room at the local Premier Inn ‘for the sole purpose of procuring a girl or girls’ during their visit to Rhyl.
Targeted: The girl raped by Evans (pictured left playing for Wales) has also become the victim of a vile internet campaign calling her a ‘drunken slag’, ‘tramp’ and ‘whore’ among other names
They ended up at the Zu bar, but left at different times. Some time before 4am, Clayton McDonald encountered a girl outside a kebab shop in the town’s Queen Street.
She was ‘stumbling’ and ‘slurring’. Hardly surprising in the circumstances. She had drunk two large glasses of wine in just over an hour, along with four double vodkas and a Sambuca. ‘Hi, where are you going?’ McDonald asked her. ‘Where are you going?’ she replied.’
‘I’m going to my hotel,’ he said. ‘I’m coming with you,’ she told him.
You’d like to think that most men would have resisted the temptation to take a young women in such a state back to their hotel room.
Instead, McDonald got into a taxi with her, then immediately sent Evans a text message.
‘I’ve got a girl,’ he told him. About 15 minutes later, Evans turned up at the hotel.
Guilty: Ched Evans pictured outside Caernafon Crown Court, where he was jailed for five years last week
He was followed by his brother Ryan, 19, a student at Swansea University, and another local lad, Jack Higgins. They remained outside by the window. Police later found blurred video recordings on Higgins’s mobile phone of the ‘sexual activity which was taking place within the room’.
Group sex, it seems, has become acceptable behaviour among some footballers. The sickening culture dates back many years.
The most notorious recent example occurred at Manchester United’s Christmas party in 2007 when up to 100 girls from across the city were bussed to a local hotel.
A witness recalled hearing clapping and cheering from one of the rooms where five or six men were with a girl. The men were heard ‘shrieking like hyenas’ and shouting ‘get in there’.
That infamous night also ended in an allegation of rape against Manchester United defender Jonny Evans. He was arrested, but did not face charges.
Back at the Premier Inn in Rhyl the following morning, the girl woke up alone in a bed. Her clothes were scattered around the floor.
By then, Ched Evans and Clayton McDonald had long gone. McDonald left through the front door, Evans via a fire exit.
Following his arrest, Evans told police that his friend had asked the girl: ‘Can my mate join in?’ She had said “yes” straight away, Evans claimed. The jury did not believe him.
McDonald, however, was cleared of rape. His barrister said his client ‘may have behaved in a manner you may find morally repugnant, but it didn’t make him guilty of rape’.
We can only assume that, despite her intoxicated state, the girl’s decision to go back to the hotel constituted consent in the eyes of the jury.
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.
Categories: News Tags: Ched, Evans', Fans, footballer, jailed, match, planning, rape, Show, support, today
Ched Evans rape victim ‘named and abused on Twitter’ as girlfriend stands by Wales footballer
- Jailed star is included in PFA League One Team of the Year
- Identity of victim, 19, ‘discussed online by Twitter users’
- Club launches investigation into team-mate Connor Brown, who called victim a ‘money-grabbing little tramp’ on Twitter
- Rape charities call for anonymity laws to be toughened up against new technologies
By Keith Gladdis, Jaya Narain and Chris Brooke
|
A storm erupted yesterday as a teenager raped by a footballer was named on social networking website Twitter.
Police promised a ‘robust’ investigation after the girl was identified and abused on the internet within hours of Wales striker Ched Evans being found guilty of the attack.
Her name was being circulated so widely that it is understood to have been one of the top ‘trending’, or most used, words on the Twitter site over the weekend.
Standing by her man: Chad Evans, left, is being supported by his girlfriend Natasha Massey, 24, despite him being convicted of raping a teenager
The victim was last night said by her family to have been ‘traumatised’ by the loss of her anonymity and the Attorney General has warned that those who published her name could face prosecution.
Sheffield United player Evans, 23, was sentenced to five years’ jail on Friday for raping the 19-year-old in a hotel after a night out in Rhyl, North Wales last May.
He admitted having sex with the victim but she told police she had no memory of the incident and believed her drinks had been spiked. Evans’s friend, the Port Vale defender Clayton McDonald, 23, also admitted having sex with the victim but was found not guilty of the same charge.
Trial: The victim’s name was circulated within hours of the jury returning its verdict. Clayton McDonald, 23, left, was cleared of rape while Ched Evans, right, was convicted of rape and sentenced to five years in jail
Online attack: Connor Brown accused the victim of being a ‘money grabbing little tramp’
Despite his conviction he was this week named in the Professional Footballer Association League One Team of the Year.
Organisers defended the decision to include him in the award as a ‘footballing judgement’ and not a moral one.
Soon after Evans was convicted, his Sheffield United teammate Connor Brown accused his victim of being a ‘money grabbing little tramp’.
Another supporter tweeted: ‘Birds that **** footballers then accuse them of rape are complete compensation-grabbing ***s. They need shooting.’
The personal abuse against the victim on the internet soon escalated into messages in which she was named.
Jonathan Cox from Sheffield published her name, saying she ‘isn’t a victim she’s a whore’. Joshua Laughton, also from Sheffield, tweeted the name of the victim before sharing another user’s message saying ‘she’s got a massive reputation in Rhyl for doing similar things’.
Both Cox and Laughton have since removed their messages from Twitter.
Rape victims are granted lifelong anonymity by the courts and publishing a name is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000.
North Wales Police have described the comments on Twitter as ‘profoundly disturbing’ and say they contribute to the young woman’s ‘continued trauma’.Last night her family revealed she was ‘traumatised, shocked and deeply upset’ at being identified by Twitter users.
Tirade: Connor Brown took to his Twitter to comment on the verdict and the victim
TWITTER VS THE COURTS
The most high-profile leak on Twitter was the naming of footballer Ryan Giggs as he tried to protect his identity.
Giggs, 38, took out an injunction last April to prevent the media from reporting allegations that he had an extra-marital affair with former Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas and allegations that she had blackmailed him.
The Manchester United star was the subject of so much speculation on Twitter that eventually Lib Dem MP John Hemming ‘outed’ him in the House of Commons.
Her mother said: ‘Putting her name on Twitter is just another horrendous ordeal for her and we have been assured the police are going to come down like a ton of bricks on these people.’
The teenager is understood to have had counselling following the rape.
Evans has been the top scorer for Sheffield United this season, scoring 29 League goals, and he was named in the Professional Footballers’ Association League One team of the year on Sunday. Voting took place before his conviction.
The sister of the victim believes she has been abused because of Evans’s popularity as a footballer. She said: ‘People are only doing it because he is a footballer, I think it is absolutely disgusting and the whole family are shocked.’
While newspapers and television broadcasters follow court anonymity rulings, they are often ignored on the internet and postings are usually difficult to remove once they have been published.
Labour MP Louise Ellman said: ‘The naming of any rape victim should be condemned, anonymity is crucial and this case should be pursued by the authorities.’
North Wales Police have begun collecting evidence. Detective Chief Inspector Steve Williams said: ‘As and when criminal offences are identified on such websites they will be dealt with robustly and the offenders will be brought to justice.’
A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said: ‘Rape victims have lifetime anonymity and the publication of a rape victim’s name is a criminal offence.’
When confronted about his Twitter message Cox, 20, said: ‘What Ched Evans did was totally unacceptable but there are thousands of people tweeting about it, not just me.
‘I didn’t think about the content before passing it on. I didn’t even know if it was the girl involved or not.’
Sheffield United yesterday announced an internal probe into the tweets from Brown.
Jailed footballer Ched Evans is being supported by his girlfriend and her wealthy family despite being convicted of raping a teenager.
Natasha Massey, 24, lives with her parents in a £1.5million property in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, close to the homes of Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra.
Her father Karl Massey is a director of 11 companies, including prestigious jewellers Cottrills in nearby Wilmslow, which is popular with the privileged ‘Cheshire set’.
Support: Natasha Massey, pictured right, is understood to have told her friends that she will stand by her boyfriend Ched Evans and that she is still ‘deeply in love’ with him
Evans and Miss Massey, who have been dating for two years, have been photographed with a rare 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Spyder in a promotion for the jewellers.
They were also pictured together at a Cottrills ‘Rolex dinner’, described as an ‘evening of fine dining, fine wines and a tasting of the very rarest Dom Perignon vintages’.
It is a far cry from the night last May when Evans raped his 19-year-old victim in a Premier Inn in Rhyl, North Wales, after earlier seeing her fall over drunk in a kebab shop.
Miss Massey is understood to have told her friends that she will stand by her boyfriend and that she is still ‘deeply in love’ with him.
In tatters: The career of Sheffield United’s Welsh striker Ched Evans, left, is now in ruins following his conviction for rape
Her mother Susan has also expressed her support for the Sheffield United striker who was sentenced to five years in jail on Friday.
On the day he was sentenced she tweeted: ‘Absolutely devastated! My love goes to Tash and Ched! He is INNOCENT.’ Natasha’s sister Imogen, 19, tweeted: ‘I’m in shock! He’s innocent! This can’t happen!’
There was no answer at the Massey home when the Daily Mail called last night.
The detached mansion, which sits in acres of gardens, had a BMW, a Jaguar and two motorcycles on the drive.
Categories: News Tags: 'victim', abused, Ched, Evans', footballer, girlfriend, Named, rape, Stands, Twitter, Wales
WAG promises to stand by Wales footballer Ched Evans as his rape victim is ‘named and abused on Twitter’
- Jailed star is included in PFA League One Team of the Year
- Identity of victim, 19, ‘discussed online by Twitter users’
- Club launches investigation into team-mate Connor Brown, who called victim a ‘money-grabbing little tramp’ on Twitter
- Rape charities call for anonymity laws to be toughened up against new technologies
By Keith Gladdis, Jaya Narain and Chris Brooke
|
A storm erupted yesterday as a teenager raped by a footballer was named on social networking website Twitter.
Police promised a ‘robust’ investigation after the girl was identified and abused on the internet within hours of Wales striker Ched Evans being found guilty of the attack.
Her name was being circulated so widely that it is understood to have been one of the top ‘trending’, or most used, words on the Twitter site over the weekend.
Standing by her man: Chad Evans, left, is being supported by his girlfriend Natasha Massey, 24, despite him being convicted of raping a teenager
The victim was last night said by her family to have been ‘traumatised’ by the loss of her anonymity and the Attorney General has warned that those who published her name could face prosecution.
Sheffield United player Evans, 23, was sentenced to five years’ jail on Friday for raping the 19-year-old in a hotel after a night out in Rhyl, North Wales last May.
He admitted having sex with the victim but she told police she had no memory of the incident and believed her drinks had been spiked. Evans’s friend, the Port Vale defender Clayton McDonald, 23, also admitted having sex with the victim but was found not guilty of the same charge.
Trial: The victim’s name was circulated within hours of the jury returning its verdict. Clayton McDonald, 23, left, was cleared of rape while Ched Evans, right, was convicted of rape and sentenced to five years in jail
Online attack: Connor Brown accused the victim of being a ‘money grabbing little tramp’
Despite his conviction he was this week named in the Professional Footballer Association League One Team of the Year.
Organisers defended the decision to include him in the award as a ‘footballing judgement’ and not a moral one.
Soon after Evans was convicted, his Sheffield United teammate Connor Brown accused his victim of being a ‘money grabbing little tramp’.
Another supporter tweeted: ‘Birds that **** footballers then accuse them of rape are complete compensation-grabbing ***s. They need shooting.’
The personal abuse against the victim on the internet soon escalated into messages in which she was named.
Jonathan Cox from Sheffield published her name, saying she ‘isn’t a victim she’s a whore’. Joshua Laughton, also from Sheffield, tweeted the name of the victim before sharing another user’s message saying ‘she’s got a massive reputation in Rhyl for doing similar things’.
Both Cox and Laughton have since removed their messages from Twitter.
Rape victims are granted lifelong anonymity by the courts and publishing a name is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000.
North Wales Police have described the comments on Twitter as ‘profoundly disturbing’ and say they contribute to the young woman’s ‘continued trauma’.Last night her family revealed she was ‘traumatised, shocked and deeply upset’ at being identified by Twitter users.
Tirade: Connor Brown took to his Twitter to comment on the verdict and the victim
TWITTER VS THE COURTS
The most high-profile leak on Twitter was the naming of footballer Ryan Giggs as he tried to protect his identity.
Giggs, 38, took out an injunction last April to prevent the media from reporting allegations that he had an extra-marital affair with former Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas and allegations that she had blackmailed him.
The Manchester United star was the subject of so much speculation on Twitter that eventually Lib Dem MP John Hemming ‘outed’ him in the House of Commons.
Her mother said: ‘Putting her name on Twitter is just another horrendous ordeal for her and we have been assured the police are going to come down like a ton of bricks on these people.’
The teenager is understood to have had counselling following the rape.
Evans has been the top scorer for Sheffield United this season, scoring 29 League goals, and he was named in the Professional Footballers’ Association League One team of the year on Sunday. Voting took place before his conviction.
The sister of the victim believes she has been abused because of Evans’s popularity as a footballer. She said: ‘People are only doing it because he is a footballer, I think it is absolutely disgusting and the whole family are shocked.’
While newspapers and television broadcasters follow court anonymity rulings, they are often ignored on the internet and postings are usually difficult to remove once they have been published.
Labour MP Louise Ellman said: ‘The naming of any rape victim should be condemned, anonymity is crucial and this case should be pursued by the authorities.’
North Wales Police have begun collecting evidence. Detective Chief Inspector Steve Williams said: ‘As and when criminal offences are identified on such websites they will be dealt with robustly and the offenders will be brought to justice.’
A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said: ‘Rape victims have lifetime anonymity and the publication of a rape victim’s name is a criminal offence.’
When confronted about his Twitter message Cox, 20, said: ‘What Ched Evans did was totally unacceptable but there are thousands of people tweeting about it, not just me.
‘I didn’t think about the content before passing it on. I didn’t even know if it was the girl involved or not.’
Sheffield United yesterday announced an internal probe into the tweets from Brown.
Jailed footballer Ched Evans is being supported by his girlfriend and her wealthy family despite being convicted of raping a teenager.
Natasha Massey, 24, lives with her parents in a £1.5million property in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, close to the homes of Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra.
Her father Karl Massey is a director of 11 companies, including prestigious jewellers Cottrills in nearby Wilmslow, which is popular with the privileged ‘Cheshire set’.
Support: Natasha Massey, pictured right, is understood to have told her friends that she will stand by her boyfriend Ched Evans and that she is still ‘deeply in love’ with him
Evans and Miss Massey, who have been dating for two years, have been photographed with a rare 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Spyder in a promotion for the jewellers.
They were also pictured together at a Cottrills ‘Rolex dinner’, described as an ‘evening of fine dining, fine wines and a tasting of the very rarest Dom Perignon vintages’.
It is a far cry from the night last May when Evans raped his 19-year-old victim in a Premier Inn in Rhyl, North Wales, after earlier seeing her fall over drunk in a kebab shop.
Miss Massey is understood to have told her friends that she will stand by her boyfriend and that she is still ‘deeply in love’ with him.
In tatters: The career of Sheffield United’s Welsh striker Ched Evans, left, is now in ruins following his conviction for rape
Her mother Susan has also expressed her support for the Sheffield United striker who was sentenced to five years in jail on Friday.
On the day he was sentenced she tweeted: ‘Absolutely devastated! My love goes to Tash and Ched! He is INNOCENT.’ Natasha’s sister Imogen, 19, tweeted: ‘I’m in shock! He’s innocent! This can’t happen!’
There was no answer at the Massey home when the Daily Mail called last night.
The detached mansion, which sits in acres of gardens, had a BMW, a Jaguar and two motorcycles on the drive.
Categories: News Tags: 'victim', abused, Ched, Evans', footballer, Named, promises, rape, Stand, Twitter, Wales
Teenager spends three months behind bars after DNA blunder fingers him for rape in city he has never even visited
- 19-year-old arrested in Devon over Manchester attack
- Greater Manchester police begins review of murder and rape convictions obtained using forensic firm
- Victim, currently serving time for affray, demands compensation
- His lawyer demands public inquiry. Scores of other cases could now be reopened
By Damien Gayle
|
A DNA blunder led to a teenager spending three months behind bars after he was accused of rape in a city he had never even visited.
Adam Scott, from Truro, Cornwall, was charged with attacking a woman in a park in Manchester, after his DNA sample was mixed with that of the attacker’s that had been taken from the victim.
He had provided the swab in connection with an unrelated crime that was also being processed at a laboratory run by LGC Forensics.
The company, based in Teddington, south-west London, is one of three forensic firms in the UK used specifically for DNA crime-scene testing.
It handles tens of thousands of samples for police forces across the country – and this cross-contamination could now see many cases having to be reopened.
Mr Scott’s lawyer has called for a public inquiry.
Greater Manchester Police has already begun an internal review of a small number of murder and rape cases in which DNA evidence assessed by the company’s evidence played a crucial role.
Adam Scott, from Cornwall, was charged with a rape in Manchester despite his strong denials after his DNA test mixed with a sample from the victim
Now Mr Scott is considering legal action.
Despite telling police had never even been to Manchester, he was charged with the sex attack after the lab initially stuck by their results.
He was held on remand and had been due to stand trial next month.
The 19-year-old was arrested in Devon about three weeks after the October 2 rape and brought to Manchester after the results of the compromised DNA test were sent to police.
He insisted that he had never even been to the city, but LGC Forensics insisted there was a definite match.
Mr Scott was charged despite his denials. He had given his sample after being arrested for an unconnected matter of affray.
After being charged with rape he spent nearly three months on remand, before beginning a year-long sentence following conviction for the affray.
Earlier this week, after finding out the evidence was contaminated, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) formally dropped the case at a Manchester Crown Court hearing.
Mr Scott, currently serving his sentence in Exeter, was stunned to find out what had happened.
He said: ‘I am relieved that I have been found not guilty – but then I always was not guilty. I defended the allegation from the moment of my arrest.
‘I am angry that I was falsely accused. I am angry about the amount of pain it has put me and my family through.
The lab initially stuck by their test results but the CPS dropped the case before it was due to be held at Manchester Crown Court later this month
‘I sincerely hope that justice comes for the victim and that the true rapist is caught.
‘I am disgusted that it has taken this long for them to work out what went wrong. I now want to move on with my life and put this horrible experience behind me.’
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood of Greater Manchester Police admitted the teenager ‘was absolutely adamant that he had never been to Manchester so that gave us some concern’.
He added: ‘We went back to the supplier who was absolutely adamant that this was not the case so we charged the man with Crown Prosecution Service support.
‘Last week we were contacted by the supplier who said unfortunately the sample was contaminated.’
The scope of the GMP probe may be extended in coming days or weeks.
LGC has also started its own internal investigation. The company has apologised and said it had ‘taken steps to ensure that it [the mistake] cannot happen again’.
Michelle Scott, defendant’s mother
Mr Scott’s mother, Michelle Scott, said the allegation had left her ‘distraught’.
She said: ‘I never for one minute believed he was guilty.
‘I’m really glad the truth has come out – but how they managed to contaminate the evidence is beyond belief.
‘I am very angry that my son has had to live through this experience and suffer the shame of being accused of being a rapist, whilst being locked up in prison.’
Rundlewalker, the Exeter-based law firm representing Mr Scott, said they were ‘utterly astounded’ by the failings that led to his arrest, charge and detention for the rape allegation.
In a statement the firm said: ‘Had his case proceeded to trial and had the jury accepted the DNA evidence, he would have received a significant custodial sentence.
‘We remain fearful for any defendant indicted on DNA or other scientifc evidence that has been processed, is being processed or will be processed through LGC’s laboratory.
‘We call for a public inquiry into the failings reported.’
Categories: News Tags: after, bars, Behind, blunder, City, Even, fingers, months, Never, rape, spends, teenager, Three, visited
Nikitta Grender trial: Boyfriend’s cousin Carl Whant guilty of rape and killing pregnant teenager
- Carl Whant yawned as jury delivered guilty verdicts before he is jailed for life with minimum tariff of 35 years
- Killer, 27, torched Nikitta Grender’s flat in attempt to disguise crimes
- Nikitta’s parents say: ‘For us to see our grandchild for the first time in a mortuary was the most heartbreaking thing we’ve ever had to do’
- Heavily pregnant teenager two weeks from giving birth
- Father-to-be Ryan Mayes, 17, had vowed to be ‘perfect dad’
- Whant took flowers to her grieving family as he tried to cover up
By Rob Cooper
Last updated at 3:58 PM on 22nd February 2012
Mother-to-be: Nikitta Grender, 19, who was raped and killed by her boyfriend’s cousin Carl Whant
A former nightclub bouncer was today jailed for life for raping and murdering a young mother-to-be in her home just two weeks before she was due to give birth.
Heavily pregnant Nikitta Grender, 19, was repeatedly stabbed in an attack by Carl Whant in her flat.
Tattooed Whant raped Miss Grender, who was the girlfriend of his closest friend and cousin Ryan Mayes, then slashed her throat and stabbed her in the abdomen.
In an attempt to disguise his crimes, he then set fire to her home in Newport, south Wales, which was ready for the imminent arrival of baby Kelsey May.
The blaze also claimed the life of Miss Grender’s pet dog which was discovered burning by a frantic neighbour.
But ‘arrogant’ and calculating killer Whant, who left Miss Grender’s parents sickened with his claims that he had consensual sex with their daughter just hours before her death, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years today.
Father-of-one Whant appeared to yawn as the jury at Newport Crown Court unanimously found him guilty of murder, rape, child destruction and arson.
Mr Mayes looked at Whant and shook his head gently at each verdict.
Despite throwing away the murder weapon, Whant, 27, of Bettws, near Newport, was caught after DNA evidence was found at the scene and in his car.
The jury rejected his claim that the reason he was driving near Miss Grender’s flat near sunrise was to ‘pick up fags’ from his grandmother’s house.
The bouncer returned to the party he had left more than an hour later without cigarettes and coolly slept on the sofa before leaving for work.
After the verdict, Nikitta’s parents Marcia Grender and Paul Brunnock said today in an emotional statement: ‘For us to see our grandchild for the first time in a mortuary was the most heartbreaking thing we’ve ever had to do.’
As he handed down his sentence, Judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams told Whant he was ‘calculating and devious’.
He told the defendant that he had left a party on the night of the teenager’s murder and went to her flat because ‘you fancied Nikitta and wanted to have sex with her’.
He said that because he knew that she would not agree, ‘you went armed with a knife, prepared to rape her.
‘The likelihood is that she let you in, believing that Ryan was with you.’
The judge told Whant that the murder of Ms Grender had ‘left her family, Ryan Mayes, and her friends bereft.
‘The subsequent loss was compounded by the knowledge that her murderer had raped her and then tried to destroy her body.
‘The grief was made all the more deep because you did not scruple to make the wholly false allegation that she had consensual sex with you.’
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Guilty: Carl Whant, 27, raped and murdered his own cousin’s pregnant girlfriend Nikitta Grender, 19, two weeks before she was due to give birth
The judge said Whant had acted with ‘quite extraordinary hypocrisy’ after the murder of the teenager was discovered.
‘You even took flowers to the Grender household.’
He added that the 6ft 3in bouncer was a ‘calculating, vain and devious’ individual and said that the full facts of what happened in the early hours of February 5 last year may never be known.
But he added: ‘The explanation for these crimes lies in part in your vanity.’
Grief: Nikitta’s father Paul Brunnock and mother Marcia Grender make an emotional statement after Whant was jailed
‘TO SEE OUR GRANDCHILD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A MORTUARY WAS HEARTBREAKING’
The grief-stricken parents of murdered mother-to-be Nikitta Grender described the first time they saw their dead granddaughter as the most harrowing experience of their lives.
Kelsey-May was due to arrive in the world around February 21 last year, but she was killed just two weeks beforehand.
Miss Grender’s uncle Michael Brunnock said his brother Paul and his niece’s mother Marcia Grender had found the events of the past 12 months incredibly difficult.
Speaking on behalf of Miss Grender’s family, as well as Ryan Mayes, he said: ‘Nikitta was so young and beautiful. Together with Ryan, they were to become very proud set of parents to Kelsey-May.
‘This has been ripped from them by Carl Whant, who has never had the decency to tell us the truth.
‘For us to see our grandchild for the first time in a mortuary was the most heartbreaking thing we have ever had to do.
‘The last 12 months has been harder for us than you could ever imagine. We remain in total disbelief as to what happened.
‘We will never deal with the tragic events that have stolen our family from us, but we hope we can at least start to understand what has happened.’
Mr Brunnock also praised the work of Gwent Police and the Crown Prosecution Service in getting justice for their family.
After the verdict was delivered in court, Miss Grender’s father approached prosecuting barrister Gregg Taylor to thank the leading QC – while family and friends embraced in tears of relief and joy.
‘You told the police that she was “feisty” and in my view she told you that she was going to report you to the police for raping her, and that is why you murdered her.’
Father-to-be Ryan Mayes and Nikitta were ‘well-prepared’ for the birth of their baby girl – and had bought a cot and pram ready for the big day.
But on the night of Miss Grender’s death, Mr Mayes went for a night-out with family and friends and returned to discover her dead in the burned-out flat.
During the trial, prosecutor Greg Taylor said: ‘Nikitta was alone at home in the flat in the early hours where she should have been safe for the rest of the night.
‘Her boyfriend Ryan was out in pubs, nightclubs and a house party with his cousin Whant.
‘Someone entered that flat, someone raped her, someone murdered her and in the process destroyed her unborn child.
‘She was stabbed right through the neck cutting her carotid artery.
‘She was also stabbed in her stomach and the knife penetrated the unborn baby.’
The court heard the bed Miss Grender was found lying in was deliberately set on fire.
Mr Taylor said: ‘This was an attempt to cover up these crimes making it appear Nikitta Grender had died in a tragic house fire. The man who did that was Carl Whant.’
He added: ‘Nikitta fell pregnant and was expecting her child in February 2011. They moved into a new flat the previous September – Nikitta’s mother lived around the corner to help her out.
‘Nikitta visited the midwife regularly with Ryan and they were both looking forward to the birth of their child.
‘Nikitta and Ryan knew the baby was going to be a girl and had already given her the name Kelsey-May.
‘They had decorated one room in the flat and had bought a cot and pram – they were well prepared.’
Killer: Whant, 27, with his girlfriend Rachel Bird who gave evidence against him in the month-long murder trial at Newport Crown Court
Thug: Tattooed Whant, a 6ft 3in bouncer, was jailed for a minimum term of 35 years after unanimously being found guilty by the jury today
Damage: The fire was started by murderer Carl Whant, 27, in a desperate attempt to cover up for the killing of the 19-year-old mother-to-be
Charred: Inside Nikitta Grender’s upstairs flat which was almost completely destroyed by the blaze which ripped through it after she was murdered
Guilty: Police mugshot of murderer Carl Whant who was today jailed for 35 years
Mr Taylor told how Miss Grender disliked Whant – and ruled out that she had consented to sex with him.
He said: ‘It was common knowledge that Nikitta disliked Carl Whant – he was a self-confessed cocaine user and she thought he was a bad influence on Ryan.’
Mr Taylor said firefighters arrived to see smoke billowing out of the windows of the first-floor flat.
Mr Taylor said: ‘The fire was started deliberately there is no doubt about that. It was to mask the murder.
‘The firefighters broke through the door and inched their way across the floor when a five-foot ball of flame rolled across the ceiling from Nikitta’s bedroom.
‘When they got into that room they could see Nikitta’s body on the bed. It was heavily charred.’
Miss Grender was just 5ft 3in and weighed 7st 10lbs even though she was heavily pregnant.
Her parents Marcia Grender and Paul Brunnock said today following the verdict: ‘Nikitta was so young and beautiful and together with Ryan they were to become a very proud set of parents to Kelsey-May.
‘This has been ripped from them by Carl Whant who has never had the decency to tell us the truth.
‘We will never deal with the tragic events that have stolen our family from us.
‘But we hope we can at least start to understand what has happened.’
Serviceman: Carl Whant, 27, when he was in the Welsh Guards a few years ago
Detective Chief Superintendent Geoff Ronayne said police and the Crown Prosecution Service had ‘worked tirelessly and thoroughly’ to put the prosecution case together.
‘We are satisfied that justice has been served today with the conviction of Carl Whant for the horrific murder of Nikitta and Kelsey-May.
‘Whant has never admitted his guilt, given any indication as to why he committed this terrible crime or provided Nikitta’s family with any answers.’
He added that expert advice had been sought from across the UK in an effort to strengthen the case against Whant.
‘We have also done our best to provide support to Nikitta’s family and our thoughts, as they have always been, are with them today.
‘With the murder of Nikitta and Kelsey-May, they have lost their daughter, sister and granddaughter, and Ryan has lost his girlfriend and daughter.
‘The family and Ryan must be commended for their bravery and dignity, and for the support they have given to the police investigation over the last 12 months.
‘This process has undoubtedly been a harrowing ordeal for them.
‘I am hopeful that this conviction brings to an end one part of the process, although, without a doubt, they will continue to mourn the family and grieve for Nikitta and Kelsey-May for the rest of their lives.’
Murdered: Nikitta Grender, 19, was ready to give birth to her first child, Kelsey May, and had bought a cot and a pram
Cousins: Bouncer Carl Whant 27, left, raped and murdered the girlfriend of his cousin Ryan Mayes, right, killing their unborn baby
Torched: Nikitta Grender’s flat which was set on fire by drugged-up Carl Whant after he had stabbed her and her unborn baby to death in Newport, South Wales
Killer: Carl Whant 27, who murdered pregnant 19-year-old Nikitta Grender is pictured holding a child
Carl Whant sat composed and seemingly unemotional for weeks as he listened to the prosecution case in his murder trial.
As the quality and quantity of evidence against him built up, any residual doubt that he might be innocent rapidly disappeared.
Juries are warned at the start of any trial that they should reach their verdict only on the facts as set out in court.
But the case against Whant quickly appeared so overwhelming, expectations were raised that he would change his plea to guilty.
When that failed to happen many concluded that what his plea really amounted to was a denial of the truth.
The picture which emerged of Whant during the trial was that of an ineffectual loser living an aimless life.
A stint working as a nightclub bouncer had given way to work as a canvasser for a double glazing firm.
He had a cocaine habit and was regarded as unreliable and basically untrustworthy by his girlfriend and friends alike.
Habitually short of cash, his money seems to have been largely spent on cigarettes, drink and drugs.
Despite his faults he had won the friendship and respect of his youthful second cousin, Ryan Mayes.
The 17-year-old boyfriend of murdered mother-to-be Nikitta Grender, 19, was also the father of the unborn child.
Whant’s murderous act was all the more brutal for robbing his closest friend of a partner, a daughter and fatherhood.
Whant: A stint working as a nightclub bouncer had given way to work as a canvasser for a double glazing firm. He had a cocaine habit and was regarded as unreliable and basically untrustworthy by his girlfriend and friends alike
A year later he forced him to re-live the trauma suffered at his hands by insisting on his innocence in court against all the evidence.
‘PREGNANT MOTHER’S BABY COULD HAVE BEEN BORN ALIVE’
Carl Whant was charged with killing Nikitta’s unborn baby under a rarely-used law.
As the baby had not been born, legally he could not be accused of murder so instead he faced a child destruction charge.
The offence is rarely used in court and Whant is believed to be one of the few people charged with it in the last 10 years.
It covers those who kill unborn babies who are ‘capable of being born alive’.
It usually applies if the woman has been pregnant for 28 weeks or more – Nikitta had been pregnant for 38.
The crime was created in the 1929 under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act.
The act read: ‘Any person who, with intent to destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive, by any wilful act causes a child to die before it has an existence independent of its mother.
‘Shall be guilty of felony, to wit, of child destruction, and shall be liable on conviction thereof on indictment to penal servitude for life.’
The crime is punishable with life in prison – the same as murder.
David Wooler, Crown Advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service in Wales, said: ‘I decided that Carl Whant should also be charged with the offence of child destruction, under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act of 1929.
‘This is an offence which prohibits wilful acts causing the death of any child capable of being born alive – and given the advanced stage of Nikitta Grender’s pregnancy, Kelsey-May certainly fit that description.
‘Child destruction is, thankfully, a very rarely used charge; we are not aware of another case like this one in Wales.
‘When the legislation was originally drafted in the 1920s, it was intended to be used to curb the activities of back-street abortionists.
‘But in a more modern setting, it can be applied to cases where an offender deliberately takes the life of an unborn child through a violent or aggressive act.’
His denial was all the more unpalatable for the victim’s loved ones because of a belated claim that he had consensual sex with his victim.
Coming as it did little more than one month before the start of his murder trial, the claim smacked of desperation.
It was vital for Whant’s defence that he explain how his semen came to be found inside the dead body of Ms Grender.
His claim that he had sex with the heavily pregnant teenager on the evening of the murder at the invitation of Mr Mayes always appeared outlandish.
That he claimed the invitation was made moments after Mr Mayes had had sex with her himself sounded like the fiction of desperation.
Mr Mayes vehemently dismissed that either he or Whant had had sex with Ms Grender on the evening in question.
The claim meant that despite being a victim himself, his own sexual conduct came under scrutiny of Whant’s defence.
The teenager, aged only 16 at the time of his partner’s murder, was forced to stand and publicly deny ever sharing women with his cousin.
His obvious repugnance at the very idea was a final insult forced on him by his former friend. But Whant could not explain how Ms Grender’s blood came to be on his shirt and in his car.
He could not explain how his car was identified on CCTV by experts travelling a route on the morning of the murder which led to her Broadmead Park flat.
He admitted leaving a party in Newport at a time which gave him the opportunity to commit murder, claiming he was going to get cigarettes.
He claimed that he had visited his grandmother’s home to ask for them but failed to wake her.
Despite being able to describe his nine minute drive across Newport in detail, he went on to claim he had no memory of returning to the party.
His account was so riddled with inconsistencies and lies that nobody who sat through the trial could ever believe him innocent.
It was a measure of the man that to escape justice he was willing to force his friend through the added ordeal of a trial in spite of everything he had already done to him.
Family: Nikitta’s father Paul Brunnock, mother Marcia Grender, the victim’s boyfriend Ryan Mayes and Nikitta’s younger brother Luke exit Newport Crown Court (left). Right: Mr Mayes arrives at the court earlier in the case
FATHER-TO-BE TOLD MURDERED NIKITTA HE WOULD BE ‘PERFECT FATHER’
Stabbed to death: Nikitta Grender, 19, was in a long-term relationship with Ryan Mayes, Carl Whant’s cousin
Heartbroken father-to-be Ryan Mayes told how he was counting down the days to the arrival of his baby girl with partner Nikitta Grender.
The young couple had already named her Kelsey-May and painted her nursery pale pink.
Nikitta, 19, had bought nappies and baby clothing ready for the day she would proudly bring her back from hospital. Ryan, just 17, kept the ultra-sound scans of their baby on his mobile phone to show his friends and family.
Ryan had gone along to Nikitta’s ante-natal classes and had told family he planned to be the ‘perfect dad.’
He said: ‘After we moved in together our relationship improved – it went better. We just had ourselves and may have had one or two friends each.
‘We wanted each other and didn’t want to go out drinking and finding other people.
‘We just kept ourselves to ourselves and stayed strong. I was over the moon she was expecting a baby and she felt exactly the same.’
Eight and-a half-months pregnant Nikitta was due to give birth on Ryan’s 18th birthday – February 17th 2011.
But in the early hours of February 5 Ryan’s cousin Carl Whant called at the couple’s first-floor flat and murdered Nikitta.
Although Ryan loved and respected his older cousin – Nikitta didn’t like him.
Ryan said: ‘She didn’t like Carl because I spent a lot of time with him. Maybe she was a bit jealous.
‘She just couldn’t like him. The way he came across to her she didn’t like that. She didn’t like what he was about or what he liked doing.’
Ryan wore a pink shirt – Nikitta’s favourite colour – to the funeral of his girlfriend and unborn baby who were buried together.
He left a teddy bear wreath for Nikitta and Kelsey-May. It read: ‘My beautiful angels taken too soon. Sleep well my Princesses. Love Ryan (Daddy).’
