Cricketer guilty of Whatsapp sex game rape
Australian professional at Worcestershire told prison term ‘inevitable’ after attack on victim at his flat
A PROFESSIONAL cricketer who molested a sleeping woman as part of a Whatsapp sexual conquest game has been found guilty of rape following a retrial. Australian-born all-rounder, Alex Hepburn, who played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club, was found guilty of one count of oral rape.
Jurors at Worcester Crown Court deliberated for 10 hours and 53 minutes before delivering a unanimous verdict.
Hepburn sighed and then slumped into his seat, covered his face with his hands and sobbed after the verdict was returned by the foreman.
He was cleared of a second count of rape and will be sentenced at Hereford Crown Court on April 30.
He had denied the two counts of rape relating to the attack in the early hours of April 1 2017 at his flat in Worcester. The victim, who cannot be identified, told the court she was initially asleep during the alleged attack and then wrongly assumed Hepburn was his then team-mate Joe Clarke.
The woman, who earlier had consensual sex with England Lions bats- man Mr Clarke at Hepburn’s flat, was horrified when she realised she was in bed with the Australian, the jury heard.
The court was also told about a “stat chat” Whatsapp group on Hepburn’s mobile phone which detailed women its members had sex with. In exchanges not heard before the jury, it emerged that Hepburn had set the rules for the sexual conquest game, just four days before the rape took place.
He and other members of the group agreed to challenge each other to see who could sleep with the most women. In one message, Hepburn suggested he had slept with 60 women since the start of the cricket season.
One message written by Hepburn said: “Oi last night was my 60th. Want 80 by the end of Worcs.” The messages also included a reference to a “Tinder bird” that dismissed her as “not great” but added “a stat’s a stat hahaha.”
During his evidence on Wednesday, Hepburn admitted he sent “disgusting, horrible and embarrassing” Whatsapp messages while setting the rules of the sexual conquest competition. Bailing Hepburn following the verdicts, Judge Jim Tindal told him a jail sentence was “inevitable”.
He said: “I am adjourning your case for the preparation of a pre-sentence report. But it would not be a kindness to you to leave you under any false impression as to the purpose of that report.
“There is only one sentence that can properly be handed down in this case, and a custodial sentence is inevitable.
“You need to prepare yourself and get matters in order and attend Hereford Crown Court on the 30th of April.”