In sports, news almost always reports on achievements of sports stars, regardless if it is rugby, boxing, tennis, soccer or cricket. It was a great shock that the world learned about the case against Alex Hepburn. The cricketer was convicted recently of raping a woman he found in his team-mate’s bedroom, and his sentence is five years jail-time.
23-Year-Old Hepburn Jailed for Five Years
Alex Hepburn is only 23 years old and after he attacked his room-mates companion. It took place on the first night of the sexual conquest game he assisted in setting up via a WhatsApp group. The former all-rounder of Worcestershire was born in Australia, and the prosecution said that the game was a contest to sleep with as many women as possible. The rape took place in Hepburn’s flat in April 2017 in Portland Street in Worcester.
Judge Described WhatsApp Group Game as Pathetic
Judge Jim Tindal told Hepburn that he would be jailed during the hearing at Hereford Crown Court and told him that he was immature and that he and his team-mate played a pathetic and sexist game based on collecting sexual encounters. The judge also added that Hepburn thought his behaviour was laddish at the time, but in truth, it was nothing but foul sexism. The whole game was trivialised rape and demanded women, and that Hepburn will finally realise how dangerous his actions were.
Victim Calls Ordeal an Evil Crime
According to Michelle Heeley, Hepburn’s barrister he expressed sincere remorse. The judge called his victim brave, and her statement described the rape as a heinous and evil crime. Hepburn was found guilty of oral rape by the jury at a re-trial; he was cleared of rape that related to the same ordeal.
Worcester Crown Court
The trial continued for four days in the Worcester Crown Court and included a statement of the victim that believed at first that she was having sex with Joe Clarke, Hepburn’s team-mate, after meeting him at the club. The victim told the jurors that she went home with the batsman of the England Lions and that she had consensual sex with Clarke.
Clarke Passed Out in Bathroom
The rape took place when Clarke felt sick and left the bedroom to go to the bathroom during the early hours. After being sick in the toilet, he passed out and did not return to the bedroom. This is when Hepburn entered the room and had sex with the woman who was under the impression that it was Clarke who responded to the room.
The case and being found guilty of rape have a significant impact on the young cricketer’s life, and after his five-year jail sentence, there is not much hope that he would return to professional cricket. Alex Hepburn has lost everything, his liberty, his excellent character and his career. The victim shared that she is flooded with guilt that she is battling to escape from.
