Manchester United will be expected to reach finality on the fate of Mason Greenwood after his attempted rape charges were dropped on Thursday.
Mason Greenwood attempted rape charges dropped
In a statement quoted by BBC News, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed that a decision was reached to drop all charges levelled against the 21-year-old attacker after crucial witnesses withdrew from the case.
While the CPS remains duty-bound to keep cases under continuous review, “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,” CPS added.
Thursday’s developments come four months after Greenwood was taken into custody on suspicion of his alleged involvement in the assault and the attempted rape of his romantic partner, Harriet Robson.
Prior to his arrest, Greenwood was the subject of furore on social media in January 2022, when disturbing images of Robson’s busted lip and an audio recording where a male, presumably the 21-year-old Man Utd striker, could be heard coercing his girlfriend into having sexual intercourse, leaked online.
At the time, it was initially believed that Robson was behind the devastating leak.
However, in the midst of the backlash that culminated in Greenwood’s dismissal from Carrington Road and his subsequent ‘cancellation’, Robson’s father insisted that his daughter hadn’t intended on leaking the career-destroying evidence of the footballer’s alleged abuse.
“She has told us her phone has been hacked. We told her to take it down, which she has done but it’s out there now so it is too late. She is devastated because she didn’t want it released,” Robson’s father said at the time.
It seems, Robson and crucial witnesses with information on the attempted rape case have since had a change of heart and opted to pull out of the CPS investigation.
“We would always encourage any potential victims to come forward and report to police and we will prosecute wherever our legal test is met.” CPS said in Thursday’s statement.
Manchester United has yet to issue a statement in response to the shocking developments in Greenwood’s case. In the meantime, here are some of the reactions to the announcement: