Mason Greenwood charged with attempted rape and assault

Charlie Herbert

Greenwood has been on bail on suspicion of rape, assault and making threats to kill since February 2

Manchester United footballer Mason Greenwood has been charged with attempted rape, engaging in controlling behaviour and assault, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

Prosecutors said the charges all related to the same complainant.

The 21-year-old footballer will face his first court appearance at Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Court on 17 October, the CPS added.

Janet Potter, the Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has today authorised Greater Manchester Police to charge Mason Greenwood, 21, with attempted rape, engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. All three counts relate to the same complainant.

“Specialist rape prosecutors from CPS North West’s complex casework unit authorised the charges following a review of a file of evidence received from Greater Manchester Police. The defendant’s first court appearance will take place on Monday 17 October at Greater Manchester magistrates’ court.

“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has a right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice those proceedings.”

BREAKING | Man Utd footballer Mason Greenwood has been charged with attempted rape, engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Statement below: pic.twitter.com/xLp5BoLD8A

— Gareth Davies (@GD10) October 15, 2022

The charges in full are attempting to rape a woman 16 or over, with a date specified as October 22, 2021; engaging in controlling/coercive behaviour, with dates specified between December 1, 2018 and October 15, 2022; and assaulting a person thereby occasioning them actual bodily harm, with a time period specified as December 12, 2021 and December 31, 2021.

Greater Manchester Police have since released a statement following the news.

The force said: “Mason Greenwood, of Bowdon, will appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court on Monday 17 October 2022.

“He was arrested in the Trafford area earlier today (Saturday 15 October).”

Earlier on Saturday there had been reports that the 21-year-old had been arrested on suspicion of breaching his bail conditions.

Police are said to have attended the footballer’s house in Greater Manchester on Saturday.

The striker has been on bail since February 2.

He had initially been due to answer his bail on April 30 but the decision was pushed back following a court hearing in June.

Greenwood remains suspended by United, however, he is still earning his salary, which is reported to be in the region of £75,000 a week, pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.

United were recently forced to come out and release a statement confirming that no change had been made to Greenwood’s playing status after fans saw his name remain on the website.

A statement from the club said that they did “not condone violence of any kind” but later suspended the forward.

It read: “There has been no change whatsoever in Mason’s status. We removed his profile from the club app soon after he was removed from the squad in January.

“This was in order to remove Mason from interactive elements of the app, such as team predictions etc.

“However, his profile was never removed from the website as he remains a Manchester United player, albeit not currently part of the squad while the legal process unfolds.”

The England international last played for United in a 1-0 win against West Ham United on January 22.

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