Nine fined in Twitter rape case
NINE people have been told to pay £5,616 to a woman raped by footballer Ched Evans after naming her on Twitter and Facebook.
Those involved include a college teacher, a hotel receptionist and a cousin of the Wales and Sheffield United striker.
A judge said they had “victimised” the 19-year-old woman again and should each pay her £624 in compensation.
Evans, 23, was jailed for five years in April for raping the woman at a hotel near Rhyl, north Wales.
The nine, aged between 18 and 27, all admitted illegally identifying the victim on social networking sites.
Sentencing them at Prestatyn Magistrates Court, district judge Andrew Shaw said they had acted either without heed for the victims’ feelings or with deliberate malice.
Evans’s cousin, pub worker Gemma Thomas, 18, from Rhyl, described the victim as a “money-grabbing little tramp”.
Sentencing them at Prestatyn Magistrates Court, district judge Andrew Shaw said they had acted either without heed for the victims’ feelings or with deliberate malice
A tenth defendant denied the charge and will be tried next year.
Evans is due to appeal against his conviction today.