This will be a concise article because the answer to the question, at least for most of us, is that we don’t know much!
What we know is that a complaint was made to the police that led to Greenwood being charged in October 2022 with one count of attempted rape, one count of controlling and coercive behaviour and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
On 2 February 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service issued this short statement:
‘In this case a combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses and new material that came to light meant there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. In these circumstances, we are under a duty to stop the case.’
There is a lot of comment on social media with people expressing views that range from outrage at the charges being dropped to jubilation that he may soon play again for Manchester United.
It would appear that everyone has arrived at their own apparently informed version of this case’s accurate and complete facts, despite having no insider knowledge.
The reality is that most of these views are, at least in criminal law terms, uninformed.
We know there was a sound recording of an incident and some video, but do YOU really know who the people are on that recording? Do you know when it was made, by whom and in what context? Is it a complete recording? What other evidence was there, and where did that evidence come from? What was Greenwood’s defence to the charges?
You may have been told things you believe to be true, but who told you? Why would they have knowledge of those facts?
Which key witnesses withdrew their evidence, and why? Finally, what “new material” influenced the decision to drop the case?
We do not know. It is as simple as that.
A person is presumed innocent of criminal charges unless and until convicted – that is something we know.
There are two sides to every story, which is why when we defend criminal charges, we do not leap to judgment; instead, we carefully challenge the prosecution case and proactively build a robust defence case. We do this quietly and confidently, outside the glare of social media. We rely on facts, not guesswork and gossip.
We have only our clients to impress.