Footballer Ched Evans cleared of raping teenager after complainant's sexual history is put before court

This is the room at the Premier Inn, near Rhyl, where footballer Ched Evans cheated on partner Natasha Massey with a teenager in 2011.

The footballer's club, Chesterfield FC, have issued a statement following the verdict.

Chief executive Chris Turner said: "We are naturally delighted with the outcome, especially for Ched, his family and friends. We can now all move forward and focus on football."

The club said no further comment will be made at this stage.

In a statement read outside court on his behalf by his solicitor Shaun Draycott, Mr Evans said he was "overwhelmed with relief" by the verdict.

His statement said: "In the early hours of 30th May 2011 an incident occurred in north Wales that was to change my life and the lives of others forever.

"I would like to thank my legal team, Judy Khan QC and David Emanuel of Garden Court Chambers, London, and Shaun Draycott of Draycott Browne Solicitors, Manchester, for their tireless efforts upon my behalf.

"Thanks go, too, to my friends and family; most notably my fiancee Natasha who chose, perhaps incredibly, to support me in my darkest hour.

"Whilst my innocence has now been established, I wish to make it clear that I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone who might have been affected by the events of the night in question."

Mr Evans stood with fiancee Miss Massey and supporters as the statement was read.

Normally in trials involving sexual offences, a complainant's sexual history is not put before a jury.

But Evans's legal team sought permission under Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act to question the complainant at his new trial about the statements the two men had made.

To allow the application, the court would have to be satisfied that the issue was one of consent, the behaviour to which they relate was either alleged to have taken place at or about the same time as the alleged offence or is so similar to the complainant's behaviour at that time that it cannot reasonably be explained as coincidence.

"They all describe a woman who in May and June 2011, having been out drinking, engaged in sexual intercourse with her in particular positions and used a distinctive expression demanding intercourse with her harder," Lady Justice Hallett said.

"Their accounts sufficiently close resemblance to the appellant's account as to make the evidence 'so similar' that it cannot be reasonably explained as a coincidence."

Evans' barrister relied upon the "striking detail" of the statements given by the two men when compared with his client's account.

The court heard that on the day Evans was convicted of rape, a man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, contacted police as he believed the conviction was wrong.

"The complainant had slept with him so soon after the rape, which he thought inconsistent with her being raped, and he thought, wrongly as he now accepts, that she was motivated by greed," Lady Justice Hallett said.

The man said he met the woman at Zu bar in Rhyl and after drinking heavily she offered him a "good time" but she had no recollection the next morning of what happened.

A second man provided a statement stating he had been in a casual relationship with the complainant for a few months in early 2011 - and had sex with her two nights before Evans' alleged rape.

Last year he made a further statement describing the woman as a "confident sexual partner", adding that she would take control, changing positions.

Eleanor Laws QC, representing the Crown, opposed the application and said the described sexual activity was "far from unusual" and that the "fresh evidence" of the two men was "not credible" and was not "sufficiently consistent" with Evans's account.

"Ms Laws suggests the delay in the witnesses coming forward with the new detail bears all the hallmarks of witnesses being fed information by people close to the appellant so as to make statements that would support another appeal," Lady Justice Hallett said.

"It may well be a rare case in which it will be appropriate to indulge in this kind of forensic examination of sexual behaviour with others.

"In our judgement this is potentially such a rare case. The requirements of Section 41 must give way to the requirements of a fair trial.

"Relevant and admissible evidence cannot be excluded. For those reasons we have concluded that this appeal must be allowed."

Ched Evans' fiancée offered a key witness in his rape trial a £50,000 "bribe" for evidence to clear him, it can now be revealed.

Natasha Massey, 27, sent a Facebook message about the huge cash reward to hotel receptionist Gavin Burrough - and signed it with a kiss.

Prosecuting barrister Simon Medland QC said the "subtle and repeated" five-figure sum was "akin to a bribe".

The jury at Evans' retrial was not told about the Facebook messages after the judge ruled them inadmissible.

The messages sent by mum-of-one Miss Massey were both signed off with a "x" and allegedly put "pressure" on Mr Burrough to change his evidence.

The first message sent on May 6 2012 - two weeks after he was jailed - said: "We are appealing for new information. There is a £50,000 reward for any new evidence. Do you know anything that could help Ched? X"

The second post - sent the following morning - read: "Ok. I see you have chosen to ignore me. I understand you want to put it all behind you.

"If you can deal with the fact that Ched is innocent and he's spending the next 17 months in prison and you can just sit back and let it happen so be it. I'm literally begging. If you know anything please help me x.'"

But Mr Burrough never changed his account of what happened in the Premier Inn in Rhuddlan, North Wales.

Mr Medland said the messages were sent so Mr Burrough "could consider his position as a witness".

Mr Medland said: "There is a plain inference to be drawn from the two Facebook messages.

"In the second message an element of pressure was brought to bear firstly by dint of repetition secondly by way of reflecting on the words used by Miss Massey."

He added: "There is no direct evidence it is a bribe but it is subtle and repeated inducement to change his evidence to support the case for the defendant.

"It is akin to a bribe. There is no direct evidence of bribery. This is an attempt to induce Mr Burrough to change his evidence so it supported the case of the defendant."

He added: "It has the flavour of a bribe."

But Evans' legal team argued the messages showed nothing more than "a desperate girlfriend trying to help her boyfriend who she believed was innocent."

Beauty therapist Natasha has stood by her boyfriend ever since he was first accused of rape in 2011 and the couple had a baby son together in January this year.

The couple have been together since 2009 and Natasha previously told how Evans "wasn't capable" of committing such a crime.

In a TV interview after his conviction, she said: "As soon as I found out that he'd been questioned over rape, my instinct was kind of protective of Ched, and I thought I have to stand by him.

"So my thoughts and feelings over the cheating were put to one side and I just stepped in to help him through this terrible time."

Natasha's business tycoon father Karl, 52, helped launch the website Chedevans.com following his conviction and funded Evans' legal challenge.

The website, which proclaimed that Evans was "wrongly convicted of rape on 20th April 2012" boasted of the £50,000 available for new information that could help his appeal.

Two new witnesses who gave evidence at Evans' retrial denied they were influenced by the £50,000 reward.

The crucial new evidence clearing Ched Evans at his retrial came from two men who told of their own sexual experiences with the teenage waitress.

The two former lovers both had sex with the teenage waitress - one two days before the alleged rape and the other just two weeks after.

Both told how the 19-year-old took the lead and asked them to go "harder" during sex.

It matched the details of the original statement given by Evans to police back in 2011 - and was used as evidence to prove she consented despite being drunk.

The evidence was not heard at Evans original rape trial in 2012 when he was found guilty.

But it was later presented to the Court of Appeal and his conviction was quashed. The two men travelled to give evidence for his defence at the retrial.

The ex-Manchester City and Wales player told his retrial at Cardiff Crown Court that during sex at the Premier Inn hotel, the girl asked him to "f*** her harder" and dictated the positions during sex.

And the jury was told her words and actions mirrored the sex she'd had just two nights earlier with another man she'd had a "purely sexual" relationship.

Speaking of the night, the man said he was "shocked" at how confident the teenager was in bed after she demanded he "rip her clothes off".

It brings to an end a five-year ordeal for the soccer player since the night at the Premier Inn in May 2011.

Former Wales international Evans, 27, arrived at the hotel 15 minutes after his friend had taken the 19-year-old woman back to Room 14 of the Premier Inn for sex. The court heard he rung Evans to say: "I've got a girl."

Cardiff Crown Court heard she was "intoxiated" when Evans had sex with her in the room and remembers nothing about it.

The former Wales international who now plays for Chesterfield FC was convicted in 2012 of rape and served half of his five-year sentence in prison.

But he appealed his conviction and was successfully awarded a retrial after a review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

The former Manchester City and Sheffield United striker denied one count of rape on May 30, 2011, at Rhyl, North Wales.

A jury took just three hours to unanimously clear him of raping the 19-year-old waitress.

Evans was calm and composed as the jury of seven women and five men returned their not guilty verdict.

Judge Mrs Justice Nicola Davies said: "Mr Evans you are discharged."

Evans then left the dock of Court number 5 at Cardiff Crown Cour to walk to the public gallery where he hugged fiancee Natasha Massey and they both broke down in tears.

The judge then thanked the jury for their two-week hearing.

She said: "I want to thank each one of you for the care you have brought to this case."