Australian-born cricketer Alex Hepburn will reportedly appeal to the Court of Appeal against the conviction. The 24-year-old player had been convicted back in 2017 for raping a woman in his teammate’s room. The Worcestershire player was awarded a five-year prison term in June in April 2019. The incident reportedly occurred at a Worcester flat.
The cricketer ‘s challenge appeal would be heard Thursday by Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, according to the report declared on The West Australian. The prosecutor claimed that the Worcestershire Cricket County Club ex-player had been involved in the contest that fired him up to commit the heinous crime.
According to the prosecution, the Australian-born former all-rounder of Worcestershire was “fired up” by the contest to have sex with the most women before carrying out the rape on 2017 April 1, at his flat in Portland Street, Worcester.
During the case, prosecutors said Hepburn and one of his teammates were involved in a sleeping contest with the majority of women, leading to a woman’s rape in April 2017 in his apartment. Judge Jim Tindal, who was incarcerated at Hereford Crown Court in Hepburn, stated that it demeaned women and trivialized rape — a term Hepburn tossed loosely around. And he knows now how wrong rape is.
Victim who assaulted Hepburn described her ordeal as “evil” and “heinous crime” in what the judge said was a “brave” victim impact statement.
In a retrial earlier this month, a jury found Hepburn guilty of oral rape but acquitted him of another charge of rape to the same victim.
She also revealed that she thought she was engaging in a sexual encounter with Teammate Joe Clarke of Hepburn’s then county. Clarke is a batsman who’s played the second-string international team for England Lions. Clarke and the lady got together in a nightclub. She told jurors that she had consensual sex with Clarke, who, in the early hours, left his bedroom to get sick in a bathroom, where he passed out.
