FOOTBALLER Ched Evans said he is ashamed of having ­"cheated" on his girlfriend - but expressed no remorse over the rape for which he was jailed as he continues to protest his innocence.

The 25-year-old footballer, who was released from prison on Friday having served half of a five-year sentence for raping a woman then aged 19 in a hotel room, told a Sunday newspaper shortly before he was freed that cheating on his girlfriend was "unforgivable".

But of the crime for which he was convicted by a jury at Caernarfon Crown Court two years ago, he said: "It was something that should never have happened. I cheated on my girlfriend and had sex with this girl - but it was definitely consensual."

Katie Russell, a spokeswoman for the charity Rape Crisis, told the paper the player's words were harmful and insulting to his victim, for whom she said he had never shown any regard.

Former Sheffield United striker Evans was jailed in April 2012 for the rape in Rhyl, North Wales.

The footballer admitted having sex with the woman but she told the jury she had no memory of the incident.

The prosecution said the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was too drunk to consent to sexual intercourse.

Evans's appeal against his conviction was rejected by three judges at the Court of Appeal in 2012.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission has said it is to begin investigating the Evans case "within the next few weeks".

A spokesman for the body, which reviews possible miscarriages of justice told a different Sunday newspaper that the decision to fast-track the case had no bearing on whether it may be referred to the appeal courts.