MP Evans cleared of rape and sex charges

Former deputy speaker of the House of Commons, Nigel Evans, leaves after speaking to the media outside Preston Crown Court. Evans was yesterday cleared of sex abuse charges.

Guardian News and Media/London

The former House of Commons deputy speaker Nigel Evans has been cleared of raping a university student and sexually assaulting six other men over a 10-year period.

The Tory MP for the Lancashire seat of Ribble Valley was found not guilty of all nine counts following a five-week trial at Preston crown court, where he was accused of abusing his power to sexually assault young Commons workers between 2003 and March last year.

There were sobs and shouts of “yes” from the public gallery as the verdicts were read.

Evans has maintained his innocence since his high-profile arrest last May, insisting that the alleged incidents simply did not happen or were the result of misread signals.

The most damaging allegation - of rape - was in fact consensual sex, the MP said. Throughout the five-week trial, Evans and his eclectic group of supporters - including the former Tory MP Edwina Currie and Coronation Street soap opera actor Vicky Entwistle - listened as the prosecution accused the 56-year-old MP of abusing his power and sexually assaulting men half his age in settings including Commons bars and the Conservative party conference. But it was in his constituency home in Pendleton, Lancashire, where Evans was alleged to have raped a 21-year-old student following a dinner party last March.

In the witness box, Evans appeared on the verge of tears as he spoke of the “absolute hell” of the trial.

His barrister, Peter Wright QC, pointed to a series of inconsistencies between what the student told officers and what he told the jury.

Wright added: “In the cold light of day, the complainant may regret what had taken place and how far it had actually gone. Now he seeks to turn the clock back.

“Saving his conscience is not the basis on which to convict a man of rape and sexual assault.”

Throughout the five-week trial, Evans listened as lurid details of his long, private struggle with his sexuality were outlined to jurors, who also heard about the MP’s tendency to drink heavily while socialising with young parliamentary workers in Commons bars and at the Swan With Two Necks, the village pub next to his constituency home.

Evans told the court he decided to announce himself as gay in a Mail on Sunday article in 2010 because he was tired of “living a lie”.

In the MP’s defence, the jury heard character references from more than 30 witnesses, including three Commons deputy speakers and the Tory MPs Eleanor Laing and John Whittingdale, who described Evans as a “well-liked”, “scrupulously fair” and “hard-working” MP.

Evans resigned as Commons deputy speaker last September when the Crown Prosecution Service announced he was to be charged. In court, the Ribble Valley MP said the trial had ruined any prospect of him becoming the Commons Speaker.