I don't/can't agree with this. We live in a society whereby guilt and punishment are to be decided in a court of law, and not offered out to society for mob justice.

To say that 'the victim of the abuse decided it was her best course of action, and it worked' tells me that you've already decided who the victim is, and that you've already decided what the outcome should be - based on your own judgement that it sounds a bit like him in the tape. Regardless Of the what the legal system offers, he'll be forever guilty in your book.

Just because something appears to have happened as it's the most likely, or easily explainable does not mean this is what has happened.
This is why we have the system we do, and exactly the reason names and details should be kept out of the press/media until the case has been tried. But that does not sit correctly with the gossip hungry keyboard warriors ready to pass judgement on things That offends them. Furthermore, this may even hurt the case against the defendant, and increase the chances of mis-trial. I want the guilty person to be held accountable and justice to be served to whomsoever the victim is proven to be.

It's not 100%, and there are certainly sides of it that are less than ideal(out of court settlements for instance), but it's the best system we have.

I'm not saying that I necessarily think you're wrong in your assumptions - but they are only assumptions and unless you are working the case, have not verified the validity of any of the claims made or any of the evidence submitted by Instagram. You have not heard both sides of the story, and so making those assumptions on half of the data.

Finally, I agree that it's hard for a Woman to get convictions for these types of charges. but what would you prefer? A system where someone shouts Rape, and an innocent gets jailed?

"It was a Team effort, I guess it took all players working together to lose this one"

In an ideal world the Criminal Justice System ensures that the majority of cases are trialled and those found guilty convicted. In reality pretty much no one gets convicted of rape (less than 2% of cases brought to the police ended in conviction last year [Link] ) and the system is struggling to address the issue due to government cuts alongside other issues like the Catch 22 scenario whereby the police see little point in taking cases to court due to the lack of convictions.

If Greenwood is guilty then I hope he is dealt with to the full extent of the law as a lesson (as if one should be needed) that his actions were abhorrent and will end in jail. The reality is if there's a way out his expensively assembled legal team will find it.

As an aside, is there a bigger issue at United? They now have Ronaldo, Greenwood and Maguire who have been accused of serious crimes, two of which have seemingly escaped any real punishment. There were also stories in the media about an escort giving services to a few of their players. Maybe there's a deeper problem at the club?

Edited by taylors lovechild (31 Jan 2022 2.47pm)

A lot of people will tell you that the system is broken when it comes to rape cases, however not that many have a practical solution within the assumption of innocent until proven guilty.

Most of the solutions are really guilty until proven innocent e.g. extra weight should be given to the victim's statement.

I wish I had a suggestion but I don't unless we do away with the presumption of innocence and i can see an argument for that however it has to be for all crimes and not just rape.

Edited by Badger11 (31 Jan 2022 3.46pm)

One more point

Right, so in a case where there does happen to be very damning evidence, why does everyone sit around waiting for his version of events (which will be carefully prepared by the most expensive lawyers in the land, and no doubt designed to make it his word vs hers)?

Again, what could Mason Greenwood's version of events be that would justify his behaviour in that recording? If your daughter had recorded that, what could Greenwood say that would satisfy you that he's done nothing wrong?

To be clear, I am not advocating a system of presumed guilt or anything like that legally - I just think in cases as obvious as this, people (and men particularly) should be more willing to just call it what it is and condemn the c*nt rather than offering lawyers defences which do not hold up to any sort of common sense. I think if that happens socially, actual changes to the legal system may follow.

I agree, having a daughter myself. My concern for the young lady is they will try to tarnish her, they will dig deep for dirt. MG will say she loved rough games. I sincerely hope outside pressure will not stop her pressing charges but, unfortunately, I am not holding my breath

Exactly my point - if a court decide that evidence is not permissible, why should that affect how me and you (not the legal system) judge him? The audio is very clearly him and it's very clear what he says.

My whole point is that the threshold for society to condemn someone for something like this should be considerably lower than the threshold for a legal conviction, which are nigh on impossible to achieve.

For a third time; what version of events could Greenwood provide that would satisfy you he's done nothing wrong? You keep referring to his side of the story, but I don't see anything he can say which makes that recording ok... hypothetically, what could that look like? Was it out of context? A joke? I'll take any reasonable explanation.

Given the 1.6% figure I've already provided you, I'd suggest sitting back and letting the police get on with it is a terrible course of action for a family who have suffered something like this.