Ched Evans warns women about drinking alcohol because 'genuine rapists are out there'

Warning: Ched Evans with partner Natasha Massey
Ben Birchall/PA
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Ched Evans has warned women of the dangers of drinking too much because “there are genuine rapists out there.”

The footballer was found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel in 2011 and was handed a five-year prison sentence.

But the conviction was challenged and then overturned after he was found not guilty at a retrial in October.

Mr Evans said authorities need to do more to make women aware of the dangers they may face when drinking alcohol.

He told the Daily Star: “A lot of work needs to be done in relation to consent because I definitely think that the police have an agenda to find ways to charge people and the easiest one is the drunk one.

“I also think that women need to be made aware of the dangers they can put themselves in because there are genuine rapists out there who prey on girls who have been drinking.”

After Mr Evans was acquitted, he apologised for having sex with the teenager.

He said: "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."

During his retrial, judges had made a highly unusual decision to let the jury hear from two of his accuser's former partners.

Controversially, they both gave accounts of the woman's sexual preferences.

Following this, lawyers working on rape cases could be banned from questioning alleged victims about their sexual history after an MP proposed a change to the law.

Mr Evans this month agreed to return to his former club Sheffield United after it agreed a deal with Chesterfield for about £500,000.

Before being jailed for rape, the footballer played for Sheffield United between 2009 and 2012.

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