A retrial has found former Wales footballer Ched Evans NOT guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room five years ago.
The 27-year-old has always denied the claims - insisting the sex was consensual.
He spent two-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted at his original trial in 2012.
The 27-year-old Chesterfield striker had always denied raping the 19-year-old waitress at a Premier Inn hotel near Rhyl in North Wales five years ago.
Shaun Draycott, Mr Evans' solicitor, said on his behalf that he was "overwhelmed with relief".
Mr Draycott added Mr Evans' thanks to his friends and family, especially his fiancee Natasha Massey, "who chose, perhaps incredibly, to support me in my darkest hour".
Mr Draycott added: "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 night in question."
According to The Guardian,
The appeal was allowed after judges gave the go-ahead for two former sexual partners of the alleged victim to give explicit evidence in court about her sex life, a rare move that is being widely condemned by women’s support groups and campaigners.
One group, Women Against Rape (WAR), told the Guardian the decision “drove a coach and horses” through legislation designed to protect victims and could stop other abused women coming forward for fear they would be quizzed about their sex lives.
