Alex Hepburn who represented Worcestershire lost his appeal to overturn his conviction.
The cricketer was sentenced five years in 2019 after being found guilty on after being found guilty on one count of oral rape by Worcestershire Crown Court.
Hepburn and his friend Joe Clarke played a sexual conquest game which literally is about seeing how many women they could sleep with and they even bragged about the game on WhatsApp which turned as an evidence in his case.
Days later, Clarke had consensual sex with a woman and was sleeping while Hepburn came in and raped her.
The victim was left with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and suffered Facial paralysis.
Hepburn was then failed at the case and was convicted for five years.
His lawyer appealed against conviction stating that the WhatsApp texts shouldn’t be used as an evidence.
“The idea propagated by the Crown, that he was so desperate to win the game this year that he would ignore true consent if he had to, is just not supported by anything in the messages or by the fact of the game itself,” David Emanuel QC said. “I accept it would be different if there was talk of sex against will or trickery to gain a point, or taking a chance, but there’s nothing like that in the messages. They are too far removed as to be able to be to do with the facts of the alleged offence,” he said.
The panel of three senior judges, including the Lord Chief Justice, Ian Burnett, rejected the appeal. He said that the conviction is not unsafe.
He also added that it was not a game but foul sexism.
I don’t know women’s game can continue to be as inactive as it has been: Ian Bishop