Everton suspend first-team player amid police investigation

Can't wait until people have to provide certifiable identification in order to post on these sites. That'll hopefully curtail the shite that some post and get away with.

What's the source?

Anyone got any idea where he resides?

Ok found it.

TBH I thought of the England right back first (terrible thing to suspect someone of I know) but he’s on holiday.

Exclusive Mail

Any chance of him being Jordan Henderson?

Stated its Twitter talk.

Surely she wouldn't deny it if he was guilty.

Just read your post Soren FFS, lock him up if it's him.

Remember, there is an active case going on. Be careful with what you post - things could potentially prejudice active cases.

I hope some of you are never called up for jury duty based on how quickly you are to presume who the offender is and to cast judgement on him without confirmation of that fact or the charges.

This is for your own legal protection as well as being the right thing to do until we have more information.

Please be very careful what you post.

Everton USA on FaceBook has a large following here in the States. They've also cut off comments on the situation.

Iwobi may now get a chance in that no. 10 role, that's if James moves on.

As it stand we will now rely on 2 new wide players to feed our only available striker.

Club is a mess on and off the field. Carlo made the right move getting out of here.

The facts seem to be simple and now irrefutable: Police have arrested a Premier League player on child sex offenses. And Everton have supended a senior player pending a police investigation. The player can't be named "for leagal reasons".

Meanwhile speculation on social media, fuelled by a report from a football podcaster, has openly named that player, and what he is accused of – texting under-age girls.

We are then told to "be very careful what we post" and a decison is made to turn off comments on this thread, despite it being put up as headline news and, I would venture, something of extreme importance to Everton Football Club, and to us, the fans of that club and its players – something this entire website is dedicated to.

The player has been named on social media. The cat is out of the bag. We have a number of posts naming him, from as early as Sunday, when rumours first appeared on other social media platforms and our readers started to post comments.

I am in the privileged position to see what posts have been deleted, and they are only three in number that name the player. Another seven that also name the player, including the first one posted, have not been deleted.

I'm curious about the legal points here: if we are not allowed to speculate, then surely all posts related to this topic should be deleted and all discussion forbidden? Or only ones stating his name? By now, it is very obvious to anyone who has followed up on this, exactly which of our players has been suspended. It would become increasingly obvious when we start playing pre-season friendlies.

Under what legal restraint are we to limit discussion of the issue and its potential implications to our club, our team, our prospects for the season? Enough of the virtue signalling – what are the real legal issues and ramifications for posters discussing this?

We could discuss the footballing impact but I'm not sure it's relevant. If he's engaged in the kind of things rumoured then who cares about when he'll kick a football?

In terms of impact on the club's brand etc well you don't need to name the guy to have that conversation.

And if there is good reason for the authorities not to release the name, might that also give good reason not to publicly speculate as to the name???

That of course doesn’t mean he is guilty but my fear is this particular EFC player will not don our shirt again and Benitez couldn’t have envisaged such a harrowing start to his campaign!

The club and fans are in from a bumpy ride from the rest of the football community, especially from you know where.

But there have been other cases where it has been illegal to name such persons under UK law, yet they get named by guys in Marbella running a football podcast... and now, everyone knows! But we're all meant to pretend that we don't know who it is? Utter nonsense.

And, as Lyndon states, we need to be extremely careful here, if any comments are deemed at a later stage to be prejudicial to any future trial.

If these allegations turn out to be true then the club bears no responsibility for it whatsoever. Let's hope they turn out to be false, though you'd think in a high profile case like this the police would have to be fairly certain of their sources and evidence.

As a journalist of 40 years' standing (just about) and a senior editor for at least half that time, the issue is this: If the authorities decide to pursue this, the legal fees you will entail and possible fine (or imprisonment) is not worth the risk of naming the player on the site, even though the vast majority of ToffeeWebbers will know who it is. That's why the Daily Mail only used the Premier League status of the player and age because it casts a wider net, though in my opinion still not wide enough.

The point is, the authorities don't have to apply the law to everyone, they pick and choose the battles they think they can win. So, why open yourself to that possibility?

Michael is right, though, it's out there and will not blow over for a long time. Incredibly sad.

I sincerely hope that it could be a 'storm in a teacup' but I suppose all will be revealed in due course. After all, that we as a Club have been thorough recently, we could surely do without this, if true, but equally we must avert Trial by ToffeeWeb Jury.

I must hasten to add too, that everything that HAS happened to the Club is by no way attributable to us, the fans, we are just the loyal, but lifelong dedicated mugs who have supported them through thick and thin. Furthermore we should in no way be blamed or indeed be the subject of ridicule by other Club's Supporters either. Unfortunately though, things being as they are in this day and age, Mud Sticks!

It's a dark day for Evertonians because as I've already seen on many threads on other outlets, the club's name is getting dragged through the mud by association. The individual they are targetting has many memes which are put up to get a couple of laughing emojis etc but no thought is given to the actual possible victim(s) by these sad sacks who post them.

Hopefully, TW's have enough about them not to engage in trite and sickening statements about the situation and will wait for proper details to emerge before making any ill-conceived judgements about the issue.

It doesn't matter that everyone and his dog knows who we're talking about. There is a process to be followed. This thread will remain closed until further details come to light and the player's identity is made public.

I think it also means Mr Benitez has another £120,000 per week in wages to add to the kitty in signing a replacement. Again, I'm presuming we are no longer liable to pay the remaining part of his contract if found guilty.

This could be a simple error of texting the wrong number but highly unlikely and we are all old enough and ugly enough to know that people get caught out all the time with these sort of social media nightmares.

I suspect that, if we have suspended a player, then there is a significant issue whereby we are losing that player for some time – if not permanently. Interviewed is one thing, arrested and being detained another. Forget the name, he's one of ours and it looks very likely that we're going to lose that player. Not the best of news articles.

1) Naming the player. Fair enough, if that is restricted legally then we should at least be consistent and delete all occurrences in posts that have carried that social media speculation onto our website. I was shocked to see how many still remained online.

2) Blocking discussion. Why put up a headline story on the website, that has already garnered plenty of discussion elsewhere, and then decide that the topic will not be discussed here under that headline? That makes absolutely no sense. Are you now going to delete all the posts discussing this?

For one I'm still in shock with it all our suspended player seemed such a genuine nice guy. But the fact his wife has walked out and left home says it all I'm afraid.

I hope it's not true but we will never see him in an EFC shirt again, even if he is found innocent, where will his head be at after such devastating allegations?

Not sure of your source but my mate is a journalist in Manchester with “sources” in the unit arresting him. Usually they let plenty of info slip but he reckons this time they are stonewalling. I’ve read three contradictory versions of events from “sources” on Twitter. If any are true, best case, we have attempted blackmail a la Matt Gaetz. But even then, if someone tricks you into commiting a crime then blackmails you, does that mean you get a free pass for said crime? I suspect not but maybe Steve Ferns can tell us. My eyesight isn’t what it was but I’m pretty sure I could tell if someone is an adult versus a child regardless of what they claim. There’s also a more bizarre conspiracy story about someone hacking a Twitter account. But would mere Tweets lead to a “very serious” charge? I suspect not based on what Sterling and co just endured.

According to the tabloids Delph is “furious” with Everton releasing the statement he had Covid as it fed into rumors he was the 31 year old married Manc dweller who was arrested. Positive from this is that maybe his anger will cause him to leave? Meanwhile one tabloid claim the team are pressuring the club to name the suspect so as to clear their names. Allegedly the players have been told not to talk the suspect. But one “international” has multiple missed calls from him.

For one, he clearly is not the one who has any issues in this matter. Secondly, as a professional footballer actually has both a short career and is highly exposed to public ridicule, insult and attack; in other words, unlike the average Russian oligarch, he actually does have a reputation which, if damaged, would harm him financially very severely.

That said, as a footballer he's a monstrous waste of space.

As for your legal query, it is simply not that straightforward, and depends on multiple factors. But basically you are describing the defence of "Duress" which has a very high bar and you basically need the proverbial gun to your head in our to succeed with such a defence.

Or if you mean that said person did not know they committed a crime, then that goes to "mens rea" (latin for 'guilty mind', in other words, 'intent') but you also have to apply the doctrine that "ignorance is no defence". Law, as always, becomes very complicated fast.

According to the tabloids

Enough said, Kieran.

A journo I know knew of it early Saturday. Evidently neighbors tipped off the press when the police showed up at his house. On the specifics, I imagine the press then tapped up leaks in the police.

I'm sure you're right but, with the speed at which the law proceeds (even slower due to Covid backlog), I wouldn't bet against his contract expiring before any charges are brought, or the matter is dropped