It has been more than 800 days since a Premier League footballer was arrested on suspicion of rape and taken into custody. Three women have accused him but his club have not suspended the player, who retains his anonymity and is expected to play again this weekend.
The unnamed player has not been charged since he was arrested more than two years ago, on July 4, 2022. He was bailed five times, before his bail was lifted in August 2023 and he was released under investigation (RUI) while further inquiries are carried out.
He has regularly been named on social media and is invariably subject to chants from opposition fans, yet he is free to continue playing while reporting restrictions prevent him from being named.
What is the latest?
There has been no update in the case since last August when a Metropolitan Police statement released to The Athletic read:
“On July 4, 2022, an allegation of rape of a woman in her twenties was reported to police.
“It was reported the alleged rape happened in June 2022. On July 4, a man was arrested on suspicion of rape and taken into custody.
“While in custody, he was further arrested on suspicion of two incidents of rape that were alleged to have been committed in April and June of 2021 against a different woman in her twenties.
“In February 2023, the man was interviewed under caution for a sexual offence alleged to have taken place in February 2022. This relates to a third victim and was reported to police in July 2022.
“No further action will be taken in relation to the alleged offence in June 2021 because the relevant legislation had not yet come into effect at the time it is said to have occurred.
“This has been explained to the complainant, who continues to be supported by officers.
“The man was bailed until August 2023. He was subsequently released under investigation while further enquiries are carried out.”
Why is it taking so long?
Stephen Halloran, a specialist criminal defence lawyer at Lawtons Solicitors with more than 25 years of experience, points to the backlog of cases in the police and court system as the main reason there has been no definitive decision made on the case.
“If anything it’s got worse in the last year,” Halloran tells The Athletic.
“The wider criminal justice system has been hollowed out because government policy 10 years ago reduced police and prosecutor numbers, and also reduced the capacity of the courts to deal with cases. The overall impact resulted in a significant backlog of cases before Covid-19. The disruption because of Covid doubled it.
“The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is at capacity and the police need a charging decision to be made by the CPS. The CPS also has capacity issues and it cannot take on new ones until existing cases are concluded. The backlog is creeping back up again.
“The prisons are nearly operating a ‘one in, one out’ policy and they’re now releasing prisoners early to free up space but the fast-tracking of riot cases from the summer has increased the prison population and accounted for the extra capacity that the early-release provision was intended to address.”
The only change in the player’s status has been the change to state that he was being released under investigation.
With bail, a specific date is set for a person to return to a police station. Under RUI, there is no set date.
RUI provides a mechanism to continue with the case. In UK law, to reach a decision to charge someone, the CPS must consider whether enough evidence exists against a suspect to provide a realistic prospect of conviction as well as whether it is in the public interest to prosecute.
“It used to be that an individual was automatically placed on pre-charge bail but ‘released under investigation’ was brought in by the Policing and Crime Act 2017,” says Halloran.
“It led to an explosion in the number of individual cases waiting to be resolved as nearly everyone was being RUI. So the government sought to rebalance the law in 2022 via the Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Act to return appropriate cases to pre-charge bail status.
“The use of pre-charge bail provides a continual check on the progress of a case. The police can extend the bail period by up to nine months. After that, a magistrates’ court will decide whether a suspect will remain on bail by way of a formal application.
“I imagine this case is now with the CPS waiting for a final decision.”
How does it end?
Once the police have concluded the investigation, they summarise all the evidence, including which parts may not help their case, and present it to the CPS.
Halloran usually offers his clients an estimate of between three and six months for the CPS to come to its conclusion.
“There is no long-stop mechanism to say you only have two years to charge a suspect,” he says.
“I’m constantly explaining this to clients who want a decision quickly. It’s not fair on complainants, witnesses, suspects or anyone else involved, but there is no definitive period in which it will be resolved.
“It’s a binary choice. He will either be charged or refused charged, which means there is insufficient evidence to put the case before a jury.”
If the player is charged he will face trial but if he does not then we may learn more about the case at that stage. Previous cases of a similar nature have shown that there is no guarantee of charges ever being brought against the player.
The complainants would be able to explain their allegations in interviews with media, if they deemed it to be legally sound. And the player might choose to speak out about his situation.
So, while the status quo leaves everyone involved in the lurch, there is the potential that not being under investigation could actually lead to the player being named.
(Top photos: iStock; design: Eamonn Dalton)
