Ched Evans rape trial: Woman woke up in hotel room 'dead confused'

The woman allegedly raped by footballer Ched Evans said she woke up naked in a hotel room alone and could not remember how she had got there, a court heard.
Ched Evans arrives at court. Pic: PAChed Evans arrives at court. Pic: PA
Ched Evans arrives at court. Pic: PA

Evans, who now plays for League One side Chesterfield, is facing a retrial over allegations that he carried out the sex attack on the complainant at hotel in North Wales in 2011, when he played for Sheffield United.

The 27-year-old striker was previously found guilty of rape, but a jury has been told that the conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal. He is now on trial at Cardiff Crown Court and denies the charge against him.

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It is the prosecution's case that the complainant was too drunk to have consented to sex with the Wales international and that the defendant "left surreptitiously" via a fire door afterwards.

On the second day of the new hearing, jurors watched a DVD recording of the complainant speaking to police.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told police: "I was in the bed on my own and I wasn't dressed. I couldn't really remember ... I've tried to think what happened in between but I can't remember anything.

"I felt dead confused and did not know where I was.

"I did not know what to do or where I was. I started panicking."

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The court heard that the alleged offence took place in the early hours of May 30 2011 at a Premier Inn near Rhyl.

Jurors have been told that, the night before, Evans had paid £92 for a room under the name of Clayton McDonald - a friend with whom he later went "out on the town".

The complainant was also out that night.

She told police she had two glasses of wine at around 11pm on May 29 before heading to a nightclub and purchasing two further drinks in the early hours of morning.

She said she put one of the alcoholic beverages down on a speaker before going outside for a cigarette and then returning to finish the drink.

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"I remember dancing ... but then I can't remember anything after that," she told police.

"I vaguely remember I had a pizza in my hand (at one stage) and the next thing I remember I woke up in the Premier Inn.

"Everything was dead blurred."

In its opening of the case, the Crown said the woman had been seen "staggering" drunk in a kebab shop before getting into a taxi with Mr McDonald and going to the Premier Inn.

Hotel staff said Evans arrived 15 minutes later in a taxi.

The complainant later said she believed her drink had been spiked by someone because she had not drunk that much.

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The woman said: "How did I get to the Premier Inn? I don't know.

"I was just dead confused as to how I had got there and who I went there with. I didn't know what had gone on."

Prosecutors have previously said that, if the woman's drink had been spiked, there was no suggestion that either Evans or Mr McDonald had done it.

When asked by police exactly how many drinks she had that night, the woman said she drank two large 250ml glasses of wine prior to going out - and then bought four double vodka and lemonades as well as a shot of sambuca while in the bar.

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She said: "I've drunk a lot more than that before and I didn't blackout before and not been able to remember things."

When asked how she felt the following morning, the woman replied: "I felt really shaken when I woke and I just felt drained and tired. I didn't feel like this the night before, which is why I felt like I had been spiked."

A female police officer also asked the complainant how her vagina felt, to which she replied: "I felt a bit tender ... I don't know what happened."

Jurors were also shown the complainant's second interview with the police, which took place on July 15 2011.

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Officers told the woman that toxicology tests showed there were traces of cannabis and cocaine in her system - and she admitted that she had tried both drugs a "few weeks before" but had "not done them recently".

She said: "From what I remember that night, I did not take any drugs that night."

The complainant later gave evidence in the case from behind a screen.

She was shown CCTV footage of her leaving the Zu Bar in Rhyl in the early hours of the morning and walking through the street before entering a takeaway called The Godfather.

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Prosecuting counsel Simon Medland QC asked the witness whether she had any "independent recollection" of what she was seeing - to which she replied she did not.

At one point, jurors saw the woman fall over in the takeaway before being helped to her feet - while Mr McDonald, who was also inside, sat on a nearby chair using his mobile phone.

Mr Medland asked: "Had you ever met him (Mr McDonald) before?"

The witness replied: "No.".

At around 3.50am, security cameras later showed the woman sitting in a doorway in the street before walking around with a pizza and then getting in a taxi with Mr McDonald.

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The pair were then seen arriving at the Premier Inn at around 4.10am, with the woman sitting in the front of the taxi.

Again when asked by Mr Medland, the witness said she could not remember anything about the journey.

The case continues.