trousers

One for the Rod Liddle haters amongst us.... http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/rod-liddle/9410182/the-utterly-ludicrous-and-petty-campaign-against-ched-evans/

No, she wasn't. The complete opposite. (Yes, I know your question was rhetorical). That's why McDonald was found not guilty - because the jury concluded that the actions of the woman (leading up to having sex in the hotel room) led McDonald to believe the liaison was consensual.

Which is why the defence said her version of events didn't stack up. In other words, they accused her of lying about not remembering (again, its all in the court transcript notes)

The court summary notes cover this too. The defence called an 'expert witness' (doesn't say who) who stated that she couldn't have been any more than 2.5 times over the drink drive limit at the time of the incident. The jury obviously decided to dismiss this 'expert' submission but it sounds like it isn't clear cut just how drunk she was.

This is all explained in the court transcript notes I posted a link to several pages ago. It was highlighted that not being able to recall an event (due to alcohol consumption for example) doesn't automatically mean they weren't in a position to give consent at the time (hence one of the reasons why McDonald was found not guilty). Its more to do with the perception and state of mind of of the accused than he accusee. The jury were instructed to decide whether or not Evans would have known whether or not the woman was in a fit state to consent, not whether she was in a fit state to consent per se.

This video (with the usual top notch production values) covers most of the above.... http://www.player.portsmouthfc.co.uk/latest-news/article/4406790/date/20150108153600/page/0/name/matt-tubbs-exclusively-speaks-to-pompey-player (Saints Player login required)

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/pompey-complete-tubbs-swoop-1-6509712 Can someone explain to me under what circumstances a club (Bournemouth in this case) would cancel the contract of a player who was "in-demand", "prolific" and attracting "stiff competition" for his signature? Surely there was opportunity to recoup some of the £800,000 they shelled out for him? Conspiracy theories aside, I still don't get it....

Bingo card duly poised....

Two sides to every story it would seem.... David Conn ‏@david_conn Ched Evans: Police say they called Oldham Athletic & sponsors and were told no threats been made; a couple of "low level abuse on Twitter."

Or...it's taken his legal people this long to wake up to the damage that remaining silent can cause....

...

http://talksport.com/football/exclusive-murphy-urges-liverpool-raid-newcastle-and-southampton-replace-gerrard

@bigadamsport: #POMPEY Striker Matt Tubbs completes his move to Pompey on a two and a half year deal https://audioboom.com/boos/2781585-pompey-boss-andy-awford-talks-to-bigadamsport-about-signing-former-cherries-striker-matt-tubbs Awford: "He saw it as an opportunity to come to a big club"

Neil Allen ‏@pn_neil_allen Tesco insists it remains committed to Fratton supermarket, despite cutting store numbers across the county. #Pompey http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/business/local-business/tesco-assurance-on-fratton-store-plan-1-6509136 … Careful wording there from Tesco..... "intention"...."believe"...."would"..... not as definitive as they could have worded it. Anyway, I assume this is all immaterial as Robinson has already handed over the cash to Pompey ("it's ring-fenced for stadium development innit guv, not for splashing out on Matt Tubbs on anyfink like that"), so one assumes that wasn't conditional on the building work going ahead....

Adam Blackmore ‏@bigadamsport #AFCB striker Matt Tubbs has his contract at Cherries terminated by mutual consent - he's now free to join #pompey Given there were multiple clubs reportedly trying to sign him, why would Bournemouth cancel his contract instead of selling him to the highest bidder? Surely demand was higher than supply in this case and as such Bournemouth could have recouped some of the £800,000 they forked out for him 3 years ago? It's a good job I'm not a conspiracy theorist otherwise I might be inclined to be intrigued as to why they have made this as easy as possible for Pompey to sign him....

It's one of the pitfalls of being a long time Cutting Crew fan. Great album though.... http://www.discogs.com/Cutting-Crew-Compus-Mentus/release/2127961

Yes. Search for "hebdo" on Twitter and then filter on videos only.

Yep, correct. The jury wasn't asked to determine whether or not consent had been given, but whether Evans would have known that any consent given was 'unreliable' given the amount of alcohol the woman had consumed. An 'expert' defence witness suggested that the woman would have been compus mentus enough to give consent (see transcript extract below) but the jury obviously chose to dismiss this submission. https://www.crimeline.info/case/r-v-ched-evans-chedwyn-evans

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30710669

Likewise. Sickening.

Have you, or do you know of anyone, who has ever had sex with someone who had been drinking? If yes, how did you/they know whether the level of alcohol was below or above the level whereby "consent" was reliable? (Just asking the obvious devil's advocate questions before someone accuses me of trying to justify or mitigate Evans's actions.) I think what people are trying to articulate here is that there is seemingly a very grey area when it comes to consent where alcohol is involved, which might explain why Evans is convinced he hasn't done anything wrong (Legally that is. I don't think there's any doubt about the morality side of things)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2900150/Rapist-footballer-Ched-Evans-handed-two-half-year-contract-Oldham-Athletic-tomorrow-despite-opposition-sponsors-campaigners.html

Alex Goring Crook @alex_crook Reports in Scotland #saintsfc have made a six-figure bid for 17-year-old Dundee striker Craig Wighton #transfers http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/sport/dundee-fc/southampton-bid-for-dundee-teen-star-craig-wighton-1.774758

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/brown-tips-tubbs-for-pompey-move-1-6506228 Good job Pompey's finances are buoyant enough to pay over the odds then.... #dejavu

I used to. They stopped after a few successful attempts to keep the calls going for longer than half an hour each time....