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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
World
James Rodger & Daniel Chipperfield

Whatsapp messages jurors didn't see in cricketer Alex Hepburn's rape trial

Cricketer Alex Hepburn has been jailed for five years after being convicted of raping a woman while she dozed in a team-mate's bedroom.

The 23-year-old was found guilty by a jury in his retrial after committing the attack as part of a sexual conquest game setup via a WhatsApp group.

The Australian-born former Worcestershire CCC all-rounder took part in the contest to sleep with the most women, before carrying out the rape at his flat in Portland Street, Worcester, in April 2017.

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The jury found Hepburn guilty of oral rape at a re-trial earlier this month, but cleared him of a further count of rape relating to the same victim.

After the four day trial the judge said a prison sentence was inevitable and today received a five year sentence, reports Birmingham Live.

During his evidence at this month's re-trial, Hepburn admitted sending "disgusting, horrible and embarrassing" WhatsApp messages while setting the rules of the sexual conquest competition involving other cricketers.

Now the trial has concluded messages not before the jurors have been revealed.

They included WhatsApp exchanges suggesting Hepburn had sex with 60 women during a previous "stat game".

Another message in which the all-rounder described himself and Mr Clarke as a "pair of tens" who "should be banging models" was also ruled inadmissible during a pre-trial hearing.

The four-day trial at Worcester Crown Court heard the woman wrongly thought she was having sex with Hepburn's then county team-mate Joe Clarke after meeting him at a nightclub.

She told jurors she had consensual sex with England Lions batsman Mr Clarke, who left his bedroom in the early hours to be sick in a bathroom, where he passed out.

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Hepburn told jurors he had drunk the equivalent of 20 bottles of beer before he found the woman alone on a mattress at the flat he shared with Mr Clarke.

But the woman told the court she was sleeping at the start of the encounter and had believed she was with Mr Clarke until Hepburn spoke in an Australian accent.

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