Rape claim at Manchester United Christmas Party
Update 2: Jonny Evans out on bail, Manchester United say that Jonny Evans is innocent and is cooperating with the police to clear his name.
Update: The Sun reports that 19-year old Manchester United player Jonny Evans has turned himself in to the police and is now being questioned with regard to the rape claim at the Manchester United Christmas part that happened on Monday night.
At this point other leading news agencies are not naming anyone but just repeating what the police have told them - i.e. that they have a 19-year-old man in custody who turned himself in and is being questioned.
The hotel has now been re-opened, and personally I think the police and the club will make a statement today.
Earlier….
Police are investigating a sex attack allegation after a 26-year old woman claimed she was raped at the Great John Street Hotel in Manchester.
Police were called to the hotel at 4.15am this morning after receiving a 999 call, according to reports.
No arrests have been made and Greater Manchester police said inquiries were continuing. Plain clothes officers visited the hotel this morning to quiz staff about the party.
A sign outside the venue reads: “Please note the hotel will be closed until further notice. Thank you for your co-operation.”
A spokesperson for the hotel, where rooms cost between £235 and £395 per night, said: “I can’t confirm anything. I can only say that we are helping the police with their enquiries.”
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester police said: “Police are currently investigating a report of rape at a hotel in Manchester city centre. At about 4.15am on Tuesday 18 December 2007, police were called to the hotel on Great John Street to a report that a 26-year-old woman had been raped. Inquiries are continuing.”
Not much of a story, IMO. Happens far more often than we’d like to admit although the fact that the hotel and the police are taking it so seriously suggests that there is something substantial to go on right?
Nope - the only reason the hotel and the police are taking this so seriously is because the 35-room hotel was booked for the night for a Christmas party that was attended by Manchester United players, many of their friends and many, many girls.
The Sun has this quote from a source from within the party:
“I spoke to one stunner who’d come up from London and another who’d travelled from Newcastle. They were gorgeous - most were aged between 18 and 30. And some of them were throwing themselves at the players.
The booze was really flowing - waitresses were handing out pink champagne to whoever wanted it. And the players seemed to be knocking back beer, vodka and whiskey.
I can’t believe this has happened because it had been such a great party earlier in the evening.
Rooney and Rio spent most of the night on the dance floor - but Ryan Giggs stole the show when he did an Elvis Presley impression. He turned his collar up and started doing a mime to one of his songs - everyone formed a circle around him and started clapping.
It was wall-to-wall babes. Some of the girls were absolute knock-outs.”
Manchester United have declined to comment on the matter - but of course they would until the truth about the whole matter has been discovered. Manchester United have nothing to hide and while it will be of some concern that their players have been unfairly besmirched with allegations of rape, if any player has a confirmed role in this alleged incident then the club will deal with him accordingly.
When I first read this news I was angry at the unspoken implication that there was a Manchester United player involved, and that Manchester United players were now going to get a bad rep because the press is somehow turning “having a good time when you’re not training” into “not serious about their football”. You work hard, you play hard, and you get the job done where it matters, whether it’s on the pitch, on the dance floor or at home.
I’ll update this page as I get more info on the story, but for now, please remember that we fans are limited by the information highlighted to us by the media. In this case the spotlight is - for the wrong reasons - on Manchester United players’ partying and the unfair (and untrue) implication that they’re not committed to their football. This is NOT about football - it could be about some glory-hunter’s 15 minutes of fame, or it could be a tragic incident of some drunk bastard taking advantage of the situation. Let’s not bring football into this.
Then again, I don’t expect any football fan to be rational…
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I think you’re putting the cart before the horse and defending people who have not been accused yet. Why don’t we wait for the facts to come out before we start making excuses….
Probz bullshit, all these girls that they get for these parties have the cash in mind. Remeber that girl a few years back that claim Sir Alex has sexual assualted her
i dont think robin van persie was there, so it probably has nothing to do with the players…
Chris Traverse -
That remark was really uncalled for. What are you trying to say? RVP is the only player capable of such things? I’m not here throwing accusations at any Man Utd players. So why the fuck are you bringing outside players into this discussion?
If this really happened, then its a shitty stituation that could do WITHOUT back & forth accusations between fans as to whose players are the most dastardly. I’m not making any moral/ethical judgements about this ‘party’ coz its not relevant to football & its none of my business.
So until we know more then please, for the sake of us ALL, just have a nice cup of shut-the-fuck-up!
Actually I read a report that the person that was accused of doing it was Johnny Evans…
Here’s the link
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22948722-2,00.html
i hope its not true…but…
Well said SpiralArchitect, RVP was never actually confirmed as a rapist, plus media over-exaggerates things because their footballer’s. Chances are, I could stand corrected though; The girl who was ‘raped’ could have agreed to it, maybe it was just that he kept going after a she said stop 30-second’s ago.
But, as I said media do over-exaggerate matters like this.
DId anyone think there WOULDN’T be a problem with this sex party thrown by the Mancs in some way?
Well done Man U players. Keep it up. Catch them young. That seems to be the motto. From C Ronaldo to Anderson and from him to Johnny Evans…………..
Who’s next, Fergie’s grandson?
As for RVP, some female accused him of rape and he was held in jail for around 2 weeks. The police concluded their investigations and released him without any charges.
As for Jonny Evans, he was released on bail and United are still not commenting.
Brian -
No!!
When you’re swimming with sharks, you’re bound to get your
leg biten off..
And Ronaldo wasn’t there. Lucky guy… [joke]
i wish i was at the party. it sounded fun
Dayum man! I wish i was there!!
Does anyone find a problem with the fact the Jonny Evans has been named before being charged with anything? From now on this starlet’s reputation will be tarnished - innocent or guilty - and he will always be known as ‘controversial’ and a ‘playboy’ and be subjected to torrents of unnecessary abuse.
The law needs amending. Either name both victim and accused or name none at all.
His rep is tarnished but his background is spotless so far (and the praise heaped on him by Fergie, Keano et all stands for something).
The law should be changed, yes, but more importantly I’m looking at where Evans will go in January - on loan to Sunderland, perhaps?
Its good to see SAF coming down hard on his players (probably could have been sterner for their own good, but ah well…), especially in public.
But i think he could have prevented the party from happening in the first place if he really thought things might get out of hand. So, how well does he know his players? Would he turn a blind eye to their antics as long as they performed well & stayed within the technical niceties of the legal system?
I’m not taking a snipe at SAF or Man Utd, but i would like to know other people’s opinions about this…
Also, people are going to say that United slumped because of the party, although in reality they slumped because of poor tactics and team selection (and because Ronny missed that penalty).