Footballer Ched Evans has been found not guilty of raping a young woman, following a re-trial.

The jury took around three hours to reach their verdict in the re-trial, which came after an original guilty verdict four years ago was quashed by the Court of Appeal.

The 27-year-old had always denied raping a teenager at a Premier Inn hotel near Rhyl in North Wales five years ago.

Evans said he walked into a room at the hotel to find fellow footballer Clayton McDonald having sex with the woman.

The Welsh footballer had told Cardiff Crown Court that McDonald asked the woman whether he could join in,
to which she looked up at him and replied: “Yes”.

Evans said he had consensual sex with the complainant before getting up and leaving after realising he was cheating on his girlfriend.

Prosecutors had tried to prove the complainant was too drunk to consent to sex and awoke hours later confused and alone in the room.

But Evans had told Cardiff Crown Court the woman was no more drunk than him or McDonald.

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