When the Crown Prosecution Service announced they had withdrawn charges against Mason Greenwood, it was the worst outcome for Manchester United.
They had acted swiftly to suspend the player on the day he was arrested in January 2022 — hours after deeply disturbing images and audio were posted online.
United put their faith in the justice system. But a year later came the news that there would be no trial, no judge, no jury and most importantly no verdict. In the eyes of the law, the 21-year-old was an innocent man, but it would be left to the club to make the call.