Charlie Webster resigns from Sheffield United

FORMER Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster has resigned as patron of League One football club Sheffield United due to the return of convicted rapist Ched Evans.

It was announced that Evans, 25, would be back in training with the squad after he was recently released from prison having served half of his five-year sentence for raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room in 2012.

The club has received a lot of criticism from supporters and the general public as 150,000 people signed a petition to prevent him from returning to the club.

Sheffield United released a statement saying that ‘the club condemns rape and violence of any kind against women in the strongest possible terms’ and ‘does not question Mr Evans’ conviction for rape’ but ‘there can be no place for mob justice.’

Webster told BBC Newsnight about her decision, stating: “I don’t believe a convicted rapist as in Ched Evans should go back to a club I am a patron of. He is not just going into a job, he is banded as a role model”

In January earlier this year Webster revealed that she was sexually assaulted by her athletics coach when she was just 15 years old and has actively involved herself with a lot of women’s rights-related campaigns.

 With regard to her resignation, to which Sheffield United have still not responded, she said: “At no point have Sheffield United acknowledged the extremity of his crime… nobody is making a decision (at the club) and I suppose I feel I need to make a decision as a patron of Sheffield United.”