Cricketer Alex Hepburn has been banned from the sport for 10 years after serving just 30 months of his five-year jail sentence for rape.
The professional sportsman, 28, who was born in Australia but played for Worcestershire, was imprisoned in 2019 after committing the rape after setting up a group chat for a ‘sexual conquest contest’.
Following an appeal in 2020 his conviction for the attack inside a flat in Worcester was upheld, but he was released in 2021.
This year, Hepburn was charged by the Cricket Regulator with two breaches of the 2017 England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Directives.
The independent Cricket Discipline Commission decided to hand Hepburn a ten-year ban after he failed to respond to the breaches.
Cricketer Alex Hepburn (pictured) has been banned from the sport for 10 years after serving just 30 months of his five-year jail sentence for rape
A custody image of cricketer Alex Hepburn, who was found guilty of raping a woman in 2019
Hepburn (left) is led out of Hereford Crown Court in 2019 after being jailed for five years for raping a woman
The rapist will also have to undergo ‘appropriate professional treatment’ relating to the events which had him convicted.
As well as this, he will be obliged to take ‘training and education courses’ before a return to cricket can be possible, The Sun reported.
The ban does not affect Hepburn’s ability to play cricket in Australia, where he now lives.
Joe Clarke and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Hepburn’s former teammates, were charged by the ECB in 2019 for bringing the game into disgrace after being part of the WhatsApp group. The pair were not charged with any criminal offence.
