A cricketer broke down in court as he denied raping a sleeping woman, claiming she fully engaged in consensual sex.
Alex Hepburn, 23, is accused of attacking the woman shortly after she had sex with his friend and former teammate Joe Clarke.
The woman met Clarke, an England Lions player, in a nightclub before going back to his flat in Worcester where she had consensual sex with him, the court heard.
She claimed she woke up later to find Hepburn raping her after Clarke passed out on the toilet. The woman left the flat and was discovered distressed and sobbing in the street by a passerby.
Giving evidence, Hepburn claimed the woman’s eyes were open at the time of the incident. He told Worcester crown court that 20 minutes later she got up and told him: “You just raped me you sick bastard.”
Hepburn, who denies rape, told the jury: “Her eyes were open before we kissed. We kissed on the lips for a matter of seconds.” He claimed they then had sex. “She was enjoying it because she was actively engaging with me,” he said.
Afterwards Hepburn said the woman asked where Clarke was. “She just kept saying: ‘Where is Joe? Where is Joe?’”
Breaking down in tears, he told the court she accused him of raping her. “I believe she was fully engaging – she knew it was me and I believe it was consensual sex,” he said. “I didn’t pretend to be anyone else – I did not rape her.”
The court heard how Hepburn and Clarke, who both played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club at the time, had started a sexual conquest game days earlier via WhatsApp.
Hepburn denied he had raped the woman to try to win the contest. He told the court: “The competition was about sleeping with different women. I am completely embarrassed … it was nothing more than just immature chat between friends.”
Hepburn told the court how Clarke, who now plays for Nottinghamshire CCC, spoke to him after the woman ran from their flat accusing him of rape. “He came in and said the woman had just claimed that I raped her – I said: ‘No.’ I was shocked when he asked me if I had raped her, I was confused, I couldn’t believe it.
“The police arrived and then arrested me – I was then put into a cell. Me and Joe have spoken since about the offence but only to see how each other was holding up.”
Hepburn said he was no longer employed by Worcestershire CCC after his contract expired last year. “I just play amateur now because of this allegation,” he said.
The trial continues.
