Australian cricket star who was jailed for raping a sleeping woman in his team mate's bedroom appeals against his conviction and five-year jail sentence
- Alex Hepburn, 24, raped a 23-year-old university student while she was asleep
- He was found guilty of rape and sentenced to five years in jail on April 30, 2019
- The ex-Worcestershire star will challenge his sentence in London on Thursday
- He will face the Court of Appeal, England and Wales' second most senior court
- During sentencing, the judge said Hepburn treated women like 'pieces of meat'
- Hepburn's victim now has facial paralysis and post-traumatic stress disorder
- The WA-born cricketer is in HM Prison Littlehey and on the sex offenders register
An Australian cricketer who was jailed for raping a sleeping woman is appealing his conviction and five-year jail sentence.
Ex-Worcestershire star Alex Hepburn, 24, raped a 23-year-old university student while she was asleep in his Worcester flat in England's West Midlands on April 1, 2017.
He shared the flat with his former teammate Joe Clarke, who had consensual sex with the woman before falling asleep in the toilet while she lay in his bed, which is when Hepburn launched his attack.
Hepburn was found guilty of raping the woman during a 'sexual conquest competition' and sentenced to five years in jail on April 30 last year.
The 24-year-old is set to challenge his sentence at the Court of Appeal in London, the second most senior court in England and Wales, at 10:30am on Thursday.
Australian cricketer Alex Hepburn and his girlfriend Lucy Street attend his sentencing at Hereford Crown Court on April 30 last year. He was sentenced to five years in jail but is set to appeal his sentence at the Court of Appeal in London at 10:30am on Thursday
Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and two other senior judges will hear Hepburn's appeal when he faces the court.
It is unknown on what grounds Hepburn will be challenging his conviction and sentence.
He initially launched his appeal application months ago and was granted permission on January 30.
The English Court of Appeal does not normally require witnesses to be recalled but instead reviews cases using trial records and judge's notes. Recalling witnesses still remains possible, however.
The Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA), whose chairman is Hepburn's former county captain Daryl Mitchell, did not assist Hepburn with his appeal and was not aware that he had made one, according to ESPN.
Hepburn was jailed at Hereford Crown Court on April 30 last year, where it was heard the cricketer carried out the attack on first night of a sexual conquest competition he helped set up on a WhatsApp group.
Hepburn at his first trial in January 2019, where the jury failed to reach a verdict. He was found guilty during his retrial in April 2019
The prosecution said Hepburn was 'fired up' by the contest to sleep with the most women, before carrying out the rape at his flat in Worcester, on April 1 2017.
During his sentencing, Judge Jim Tindal told the cricketer he and a former team-mate Joe Clarke had agreed a 'pathetic sexist game to collect as many sexual encounters as possible', following a similar stunt the previous year.
In remarks about the WhatsApp chat group, the judge 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.'
That night, Mr Clarke had 'done nothing wrong', having consensual sex with the woman, leaving her sleeping while he, feeling unwell, passed out in the nearby bathroom.
It was when Hepburn got home, 'alone, drunk and frustrated' that he 'saw a chance' and attacked the woman, the judge said.
The judge said: 'That night, Joe Clarke did nothing wrong – nor did she.'
Hepburn and his girlfriend Ms Street. Hepburn raped a 23-year-old university student while she was asleep in his Worcester flat in England's West Midlands on April 1, 2017
Addressing the cricketer, Judge Tindal said: 'You thought you were God's gift to women. You did see her at that moment as a piece of meat, not a woman entitled to respect.
'Sex is something people do together, with that particular person at that particular time.
'Sex is never something a man does to a woman, arrogantly assuming consent – in a relationship, let alone as you did.
'As she said, in evidence, 'that is rape' – that is what you did. In that moment you scarred both your lives forever.'
A jury had previously found Hepburn guilty of oral rape at an earlier re-trial, but cleared him of a further count of rape relating to the same victim.
Hepburn and Ms Street relaxing in a pool. Friends said Ms Street, who started her relationship with Hepburn at the start of 2018, vowed to stick by him - but it is not known if they are still together
Hepburn's victim, a 23-year-old woman, said she was 'humiliated' to learn he had taken part of a sordid game of sexual conquests.
The stress of the rape by the former Worcestershire cricketer has left his student victim with facial paralysis and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Last year, she told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire how Hepburn 'saw a chance' and attacked her in April 2017 after finding her asleep on a mattress.
She found Mr Clarke after the attack and told him 'again and again and again 'your friend has had sex with me', before seeing Hepburn and running outside.
She said: 'Once I'd grabbed my clothes, I ran out to the street and stopped a passer-by. I told her everything that happened and she rang the police.'
The woman told how police officers rang her mother, although she remembered thinking at the time that she did not want people to know about the attack.
The woman added that it had been 'so humiliating' to later find out at Hepburn's trial at Worcester Crown Court that she was part of a 'game' without knowing.
The rape victim of cricketer Alex Hepburn (centre) told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire (right) how Hepburn 'saw a chance' and attacked her in April 2017 after finding her asleep on a bed
The woman was left devastated by the attack and the trauma of having to give evidence
The stress has led her to develop Bell's palsy, a partial facial paralysis, and added of her attacker: 'He will have no idea the effect it has had on me.'
Ms Derbyshire said the interview, which was the victim's first on TV or radio, was 'the most searing account I've ever heard of the impact rape has on an individual'.
Hepburn, who made his debut for Worcestershire in 2015, was born and educated in Western Australia, but is also a British passport holder.
After he was charged with two counts of rape in 2017, he was suspended by Worcestershire County Cricket Club on full pay.
His contact was not renewed when it expired at the end of September, 2018.
He attended his court hearings with his girlfriend Lucy Street, who is a Nottingham Trent university student.
Friends said Ms Street, who started her relationship with Hepburn at the start of 2018, vowed to stick by him - but it is not known if they are still together.
He was sentenced to five years in prison on April 30, 2019 and has been jailed in HM Prison Littlehey ever since.
Hepburn will be on the sex offenders register for life.
Hepburn playing for Worcestershire County Cricket Club in August 2017. After his two rape charges became public in November 2017, he was suspended by the club on full pay. His contract was not renewed when it expired at the end of September, 2018
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