By Sheila Mckenzie-
Charges of attempted rape and assault have been mysteriously dropped against Manchester United footballer Mason Greenwood.
The 21-year-old was arrested in January last year amid allegations surrounding images and videos that emerged online.
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He was later charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the charges were discontinued after key witnesses withdrew their involvement.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the main prosecuting authority in England and Wales work in close partnership with all agencies in the criminal justice system.
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They work especially closely with the police, but are independent of them.
A spokesman said: “We have a duty to keep cases under continuous review.
“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.
“We have explained our decision to all parties.
“We would always encourage any potential victims to come forward and report to police and we will prosecute wherever our legal test is met.”
No reason was given to explain why the witness may have dropped a case against Greenwood, after a recording in which someone sounding like the footballer acting aggressively was made public by his girlfriend, who was alleging the assault.
Greenwood(pictured) was heard saying ”I asked you nicely and you said no”. The complainant later posted a bloodied picture of her face with a caption next to indicating Greenwood had assaulted her.
Within hours of the allegations surfacing online at the beginning of 2022, the striker was suspended from playing or training with the Old Trafford club.
He was later also dropped by Nike sponsorship over the serious allegations.
Audio footage posted online by his then girlfriend, featured someone she implied to be Greenwood, aggressively talking to a female in a degrading manner after allegedly forcing her into sexual acts against her will.
The footage posted on twitter went viral at the time, causing shock and outrage across society and the footballing world. The contents gave the feeling of an arrogant mysognystic attitude fuelled by pomposity and recklessness on the part of the footballer.
The fact Greenwood is a good looking lad, made the allegation and its plausibility from what could be seen, extremely horrifying. One would not expect someone like him with his sporting status to stoop so low .
Some analysts put it down to the height of arrogance and other potential influences at the time if everything was exactly as it strongly appeared on tape. We may now never know, since the case has been just dropped.
He was arrested, then eventually bailed, which is uncommon in serious rape allegations.
However, in the end, nothing came of it, as the allegations never saw the light of day. It was just buried away.
Fair
Greater Manchester Police said it was “only fair” to announce Greenwood would no longer face criminal proceedings.
Ch Supt Michaela Kerr said the decision had “not been taken lightly”.
She added: “I would, however, like to use this opportunity to reiterate the force’s commitment to investigating allegations of violence against women and girls and supporting those affected, regardless of their circumstances, throughout what can be a hard and upsetting time for them.”
An explanation for the dropped case was not given by police either, already leading to speculations that deals may have been struck behind the scene between the player or his representatives, with the family of the girl. At the moment, no factual basis to that speculation has been made public.
Still, rational reasons for the withdrawal of a witness on a serious case like the allegation against Mason Greenwood, should be made public in a case like this.
Greenwood is worth an estimated £1m, with a market value of £8.9m . He picks up £75,000 weekly and has earned money from various endorsements, some of which already began distancing themselves from the Manchester United player.
The CPS and Greater Manchester Police were contacted for comment over their decision to drop the case.
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