Nine people have been fined after admitting to revealing online the identity of a woman raped by the footballer Ched Evans.

The woman's name was circulated on social networking sites, including Twitter and Facebook, after Evans' conviction, at Caernarfon crown court, in April.

Some of the defendants also abused the victim online, calling her names including "money-grabbing slut" and "poor little victim".

They all claimed they had been unaware that naming her was a criminal offence, however the law gives victims and alleged victims of rape and other sexual offences lifelong anonymity.

District Judge Andrew Shaw ordered the defendants to pay the victim compensation of £624 each. The court was told a fine was the maximum penalty the charge could attract.

Shaw said that each of the defendants had identified the victim, and others had added abuse, adding: "You did so without proper knowledge of the facts and without any heed of the feelings of the victim,"

He went on to say the defendants, who were relatives or friends of Evans, had posted the comments with "deliberate malice". He added: "Your actions have re-victimised this woman."

(H/GK)