The prosecution of former Commons deputy speaker Nigel Evans was roundly criticised by Tory MPs yesterday after he was cleared of a string of sexual offences.
Mr Evans, 56, wept in the dock after a jury at Preston Crown Court unanimously found him not guilty of nine sexual allegations, including one of rape, after a five-week trial.
Outside court, the Ribble Valley MP stood on the same steps where Coronation Street actor William Roache had done two months earlier when he too was acquitted of sex charges, and said that, just like the soap star, he wanted to get back to work. He said: “Bill Roache, just a few weeks ago from this very spot, said there are no winners in these cases and that’s absolutely right, there are no winners, so no celebrations.
“But the fact is I’ve got work to do, work that I’ve done for the last 22 years.”
He referred to having gone through “11 months of hell” since his initial arrest last May and added that “nothing will ever be the same again”.
Mr Evans was found not guilty of one count of rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted sexual assault and two indecent assaults.
Three of his seven alleged victims did not consider an offence had been committed against them.
A fourth man said he “had a bit of a giggle” about Mr Evans’s supposed sexual assault on him, while a fifth man came forward to the police with his allegations, but two days later said he wanted to withdraw them and did not wish the MP to be questioned about “a drunken misunderstanding”.
All five, plus another man, did not make complaints to police at the time of the alleged offences.
The only contemporaneous complaint was that of the young man who triggered the investigation by Lancashire Constabulary when he said Mr Evans had raped him weeks earlier.
Former shadow home secretary David Davis said: “This case has highlighted serious concerns over how the police and the Crown Prosecution Service bring sexual offence cases to court. In particular, we must now review the process whereby the police and the Crown Prosecution Service put together a large number of lesser, subsidiary cases in order to reinforce one serious case when prosecuting sexual offences. It is clear from the way that this case proceeded that there is a risk of a serious injustice being done to an innocent man, and I would call on the Attorney General to urgently review this issue.”
Conservative former prisons minister Crispin Blunt said the prosecution had been “artificial” and the verdict had not come as the “slightest surprise”.
He said: “If you look at how the case was constructed against Nigel, a lot of the complainants, well, they weren’t complainants, they did not regard themselves as victims and they didn’t actually want to be in court. So this, to a degree, was quite an artificial prosecution.”
Conservative MP Peter Bone said police and prosecutors faced “serious questions” over their handling of the case.
“Good day for Nigel Evans but why was he charged in the first place?” he tweeted. “Serious questions for the police and CPS to answer! So pleased for Nigel.”
Fellow Tory Alun Cairns said the acquittal, coming on the back of not-guilty verdicts in cases involving Coronation Street actors Michael Le Vell and William Roache, meant the CPS had concerns to address. David Cameron hinted that Mr Evans will be brought back into the Tory fold. The prime minister said: “I very much welcome what he said on the steps of the court and I think everyone should pay heed to that.”