A Massive Shock - Alex Hepburn's Teammate Recounts the Horrific Rape Night
Updated - 10 Jan 2019, 11:38 AM
England Lions and former Worcestershire batsman Joe Clarke, a teammate of Alex Hepburn, who allegedly raped a sleeping woman, has told jurors the accused is still his best friend.
Meanwhile, Clarke told a court he had consensual sex with the woman before leaving her in a bedroom to be sick in a bathroom, where he fell asleep. Joe Clarke, who was also arrested but not charged told Worcester Crown Court the next thing he remembered was the woman waking him and claiming that his friend Alex Hepburn raped her.
Perth-born Hepburn, an all-rounder with English county Worcestershire, denies rape, claiming the woman opened her eyes and kissed him at the start of a 20-minute sexual encounter. Giving evidence on Tuesday, Clarke, who now plays for Nottinghamshire, claimed the woman contacted him about four months after the incident and told him she wanted to drop the case.
Answering questions from defence counsel Michelle Heeley QC, Clarke said the woman had sought him out in August or September 2017 and seemed eager to speak with him.
“I told her I didn’t want to speak to her,” he said. “She said that she didn’t want any of this to happen, to which I said ‘if you didn’t want any of this to happen, it wouldn’t still be going on’. She said ‘I wanted to drop it but they won’t let me’,” he added.
