Ched Evans 'to receive £800,000' after out of court settlement with lawyers who handled his rape case

Jacob Jarvis11 April 2019

Footballer Ched Evans has agreed a settlement with lawyers who represented him in a rape case which saw him jailed.

This sum, agreed out of court by the former Welsh international, is understood to be around £800,000.

The striker, currently playing for Fleetwood Town on loan, served two-and-a-half years behind bars before being cleared following an appeal.

This agreement has been made with Brabners, the legal firm which he used in the first trial.

At the time of that he was playing for Sheffield United and was earning a reported £18,000 a week.

The case was due to go before the High Court later this month.

A Brabners spokesman said: "We are glad that Ched Evans has agreed not to pursue this case, which we believe was entirely without merit.

"Brabners put forward a strong defence of Mr Evans' claim following a thorough process and we were prepared to vigorously defend our handling of the case."

Evans was originally convicted of raping a 19-year-old in a Premier Inn near Rhyl, North Wales, in May 2011.

However, the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction and ordered a retrial in 2016.

Private investigators gathered new evidence with a £50,000 reward offered for information to help his case.

The, in a rare move, the jury at Cardiff Crown Court heard from two men who had sex with the complainant around the time of the rape allegation.

The jury of seven women and five men took less than three hours to find Mr Evans not guilty of the charge following the eight-day trial.

After the verdict, Mr Evans said he was "overwhelmed with relief".

A statement on Mr Evans's website read: "In late 2016 Ched began litigation against his original defence team of Matthew Bennett and Stuart Ripley of Brabners LLP for negligent defence.

"On Thursday 4 April 2019 Ched accepted an out of court settlement."

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