Sky Sports Presenter Resigns As Patron For Sheffield United After Convicted Rapist Returns To Training

Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster has confirmed that she plans to step down as a patron for Sheffield United, following the club’s decision to allow a convicted rapist to re-join the club. The decision was made after Sheffield United football club released a statement yesterday confirming they will allow former player Ched Evans to make a return to the club to train. Evans was jailed in April 2012 for raping a woman in a hotel room and was freed last month after serving two-and-a-half years. The club said it had allowed the former Wales international to train with the side following a request from the Professional Footballers' Association. Speaking about her decision to remove her support from Sheffield United, Webster said: “At no point have Sheffield United acknowledged the extremity of his crime. My decision is made on the fact that I don't believe a convicted rapist, as in Ched Evans, should go back to a club that I am patron of and should go back into the community to represent the community. He's not just going into a job, he's bandied as a role model. "We cheer him on as a role model and he's influencing the next generation of young men who are currently still making their decisions on how to treat women and what sexual mutual consent is." It is understood that the 25-year-old former Wales striker, who earned £20,000 a week at Bramall Lane before his conviction in April 2012, will not be paid by Sheffield United when he signs back with the club.