Cricketer found guily of rape, jailed for 5 years

London, April 30 (IANS) Australia-born cricketer Alex Hepburn was slapped a five-year sentence on Tuesday for raping a woman he found "dozing" in his teammate's bedroom.Ex-Worcestershire player Hepburn was convicted following the incident which had happened in 2017 during the first night of a sexual conquest "game" he helped set up on a WhatsApp group. According to reports, Hepburn committed the crime in a desperate bid to "score" in the WhatsApp game between him and his male friends in which they ranked each other on the basis of "sexual conquests". According to Daily Mail, WhatsApp exchanges that suggested the cricketer had sex with 60 women during a previous "game" were not put before the jurors. Another message, in which the cricketer described himself and teammate Joe Clarke as a "pair of tens" who "should be banging models", was also ruled inadmissible, according to Daily Mail.Giving the verdict, Judge Jim Tindal said: "You probably thought it was laddish behaviour at the time. In truth it was foul sexism. It demeaned women and trivialised rape - a word you personally threw around lightly. Only now do you realise how serious rape is."
--IANS kk/arm