Teen too drunk to consent, Evans 'rape' retrial hears

Evans, 27, is accused of raping a woman at a hotel in May 2011. The Chesterfield striker is facing a two-week trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

Evans was convicted of rape, but this was later quashed by the Court of Appeal, judge Nicola Davies told the jury.

Prosecutor Simon Medland said the woman, who cannot be named and is now in her 20s, had no memory of what happened to her and could not have given consent.

"She was that intoxicated that she didn't really know what on Earth was happening," he said.

"Sex without consent is rape.

"The complainant will not be able to tell you that she did consent.

"How could she? She didn't even know Ched Evans was having sex with her.

"She had to piece together some fairly fragmentary memories of events later the next morning after she'd woken up and found that this defendant had slipped away into the night through the fire escape door."

The court heard how Evans booked a hotel room in the name of fellow footballer Clayton McDonald, who met the woman after a night "on the town" and went with her to the hotel. Evans arrived 15 minutes later.

It is alleged that both men separately had sex with her.

"She remembers practically nothing of the events of that night and can only piece together some fragments of it," Medland added.

"The central feature is the real heart of the case: the issue of consent."

Both McDonald and Evans were later charged separately with raping the woman, with McDonald acquitted after trial.

Former Manchester City and Sheffield United forward Evans has played 13 times for Wales. Evans denies the charge against him.