Alex Hepburn (cricketer)

Alex Hepburn (born 21 December 1995), is an Australian cricketer and convicted sex offender, who last played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club in England. In April 2019, he was sentenced to five years imprisonment for the rape of a sleeping woman as part of a WhatsApp-based 'sexual conquest game'. He is imprisoned at HM Prison Littlehey.[1]

Hepburn v R
Court	England and Wales Court of Appeal
Decided	4 June 2020
Citation(s)	(2020) EWCA Crim 820
Holding
Appeal dismissed
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting	Lord Burnett, Justice Sweeney, Justice Murray

Alex Hepburn

Personal information
Full name	Alex Hepburn
Born	(1995-12-21) 21 December 1995 Subiaco, Western Australia
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2015–2017	Worcestershire (squad no. 26)
List A debut	17 August 2015 Worcestershire v Leicestershire
Twenty20 debut	5 August 2017 Worcestershire v Northamptonshire
Career statistics
Competition List A T20 Matches 2 5 Runs scored 32 25 Batting average 32.00 12.50 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 Top score 32 10 Balls bowled 113 75 Wickets 6 6 Bowling average 13.00 18.00 5 wickets in innings 0 1 10 wickets in match 0 0 Best bowling 4/34 5/24 Catches/stumpings 0/– 2/–
Source: CricketArchive, 12 April 2019

Cricket career

A batting all-rounder, he bowled right-arm medium pace, and batted right-handed. He made his one-day debut for Worcestershire against Leicestershire in August 2015.[2] He made his Twenty20 cricket debut for Worcestershire in the 2017 NatWest t20 Blast on 5 August 2017.[3]

Rape conviction

Conviction

On 9 November 2017, Hepburn was charged with one counts of oral rape, and one count of vaginal rape. Those charges were not confirmed to the public until 29 November 2017. Worcestershire County Cricket Club suspended Hepburn on full pay,[4] but did not renew his contract when it expired at the end of September 2018.[5] At Hepburn's trial in January 2019, the jury failed to reach a verdict, and as a result were discharged.[6]

He underwent a retrial in April 2019.[7] During the trial Hepburn admitted he had sent "disgusting" WhatsApp messages relating to a sexual conquest competition.[8][9] Worcestershire County Cricket Club issued a statement saying that they were appalled by the details reported in the case.[10] On April 12 he was convicted of one count of oral rape, but was acquitted of the vaginal rape charge.[11] On 30 April 2019, Hepburn was sentenced to five years in prison, and placed on the sex offenders register for life.[12][13]

Appeal

In May 2020, Hepburn appealed his conviction on the ground that it was an unsafe verdict. He was represented by David Emanuel QC.[11] His appeal was made on two grounds. Ground one was that the WhatsApp messages were irrelevant and prejudicial to the trial, and ought not to have been admitted. The court rejected his submission, finding that the messages were relevant as important explanatory evidence, and relevant to an 'important matter in issue between the parties, namely, belief in consent'.[14] , as his attitudes toward consent were found to be relevant as to his likelihood of having committed the offense. The court also found that the prosecutor Ms Moore's QC questions relating to Alex's promiscuity were correctly objected to, but did not undermine the conviction.[15]

His second ground of appeal was that the jury's acquittal of him having committed vaginal rape, was inconsistent with their verdict that he had committed oral rape. The court stated:

'Even if one starts from the premise that the complainant was awake at the outset, the jury could be sure she did not appreciate that it was the appellant with whom she was having sex at the beginning, and that he had no genuine and reasonable belief that she was consenting, but that things might have changed the longer the sexual contact went on without any outward demonstration of a lack of consent (accepted by the complainant) it is at least possible that by the time vaginal intercourse started the jury's conclusion about the appellant's belief and whether it was reasonable was different.' - Lord Chief Justice Burnett [15]

As both arguments in support of an unsafe verdict finding failed, Hepburn's appeal against conviction was dismissed.[16]

References

1. Writer, Staff. "Woman raped by Australian cricketer Alex Hepburn reveals her face was left paralysed in attack". The Daily Telegraph. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
2. "Hepburn's fine debut brings consolation win for Worcestershire". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
3. "North Group, NatWest t20 Blast at Worcester, Aug 5, 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
4. "Worcestershire cricketer Alex Hepburn charged with rape". BBC News. BBC. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
5. "WCCC STATEMENT FOLLOWING THE CONCLUSION OF ALEX HEPBURN PROCEEDINGS". WCCC. WCCC. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
6. "Jury in Alex Hepburn rape trial discharged after failing to reach a verdict". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
7. "Worcestershire cricketer Alex Hepburn will face rape retrial". BBC News. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
8. "Alex Hepburn: Cricketer guilty of raping sleeping woman". BBC News. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
9. "Alex Hepburn found guilty of rape following retrial at Worcester Crown Court". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
10. "WCCC Statement following the conclusion of Alex Hepburn proceedings". Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
11. [v R] [2020] EWCA Crim 820
12. "Cricketer jailed for raping sleeping woman". BBC Sport. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
13. "Worcestershire's Alex Hepburn gets five years jail for rape". Hereford Times. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
14. [v R] [2020] EWCA Crim 820 at para. 15
15. [v R] [2020] EWCA Crim 820 at para. 28
16. "Alex Hepburn loses appeal against rape conviction". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 June 2020.

External links

• Alex Hepburn at ESPNcricinfo