NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport

Aussie cricketer Alex Hepburn sobs after being found guilty of rape

news.com.au
12 Apr, 2019 11:53 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Alex Hepburn arrives at Worcester Crown Court. Photo / Getty Images.

Alex Hepburn arrives at Worcester Crown Court. Photo / Getty Images.

The sick messages written by Australian cricketer Alex Hepburn have been revealed — as he was today found guilty of raping a sleeping woman in a sexual "conquest game".

The former Worcestershire county allrounder was found guilty of one count of oral rape after a retrial.

Hepburn sighed and then slumped into his seat, covered his face with his hands and sobbed after the verdict was returned.

Hepburn, 23, will be sentenced at Hereford Crown Court on April 30, The Sun reported.

Jurors deliberated for 10 hours and 53 minutes before delivering a unanimous verdict of guilty on one count of oral rape.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

An earlier jury was dismissed after a trial in January when they couldn't reach a verdict.

The attack was part of a sexual conquest "game".

The extent of Hepburn's depravity were revealed in the WhatsApp sex game messages cops found on his phone which were not aired at either of his trials.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

WhatsApp messages suggested he'd had sex with 60 women during a previous "stat game".

Another message in which the 23-year-old Australian all-rounder described himself and ex-England lions batsman Joe Clarke as a "pair of tens" who "should be banging models" was also ruled inadmissable during a pre-trial hearing.

In the message, written to Clarke near the start of the 2017 cricket season, Hepburn added: "Shame there are no f***ing models in Worcester. If there is we have banged them."

In another message not heard by the jury using what is thought to be a nickname, Hepburn bragged: "Got to understand that Hepperdawg is a horny c*** and without you keeping my head straight just goes and does rogue things."

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

NZ doctor accused of asking 'mum and daughter' for sex

11 Apr 09:36 AM
Super Rugby

As it happened: Crusaders v Highlanders

12 Apr 07:05 AM
Sport|rugby

English star faces disciplinary action for 'supporting' Folau post

12 Apr 06:31 PM
Super Rugby

Confirmed: Folau stood down by Waratahs

12 Apr 07:02 PM

Social media conversations which prosecutors claimed may have been "scores" from a previous sexual conquest competition were also kept from the jury panel.

A message written by Hepburn said: "Oi last night was my 60th. Want 80 by the end of Worcs."

The messages — recovered by police from mobile phone records — also included a reference to a "Tinder bird" which dismissed her as "not great" but added "a stat's a stat hahaha."

Other messages sent by Hepburn read "it feels like there is a population of 150 birds in Worcester and we have pumped every single one of them" and "get them blind and then back to ours".

But jurors did hear details of messages sent by Hepburn in the week of the night out which landed him in court — in which he apparently referred to threesomes involving Mr Clarke.

Mr Clarke has never been charged with any wrongdoing.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Worcester Crown Court heard that a couple of days before the attack, Hepburn, Mr Clarke and another friend known only as Tom, set up the WhatsApp group called 'Stat Chat'.

Members would reveal details of all their sexual encounters with girls known as "freshies or re heats" and rate them based on their performances in bed.

In the group the pals would shamelessly joke about "dragging the birds back" and "raping them" and bragged about getting tested for STIs in the summer.

Jurors heard Hepburn, who thought he was "God's gift to Worcester", attacked his victim as he wanted to beat best friend Mr Clarke who had won the "competition" last year.

The victim had fallen asleep after having sex with Mr Clarke, who now plays for Nottinghamshire, at the apartment in Albion Mill, Worcester.

She woke to find Hepburn straddling her while she was still "in a daze" and pushed him away before running from the flat where she was found in a state of distress by a passer-by.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She told police she had thought it had been Clarke "being cheeky" and "went along with it" before realising it was Hepburn.

Australian-born Hepburn, who came to the UK aged 17 to join Worcestershire CCC, told the jury the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had her eyes open and was "engaging" in the acts.

During his evidence on Wednesday this week, Hepburn admitted he sent "disgusting, horrible and embarrassing" WhatsApp messages while setting the rules of the sexual conquest competition.

The court heard Hepburn had consumed around 15 units of alcohol with his friends in nightclubs Sin and Bushwhackers in the city centre on the night of March 31, 2017.

Bailing Hepburn following the verdicts, Judge Jim Tindal told the cricketer, who was aged 21 at the time of the rape: "You have been convicted and now fall to be sentenced.

"I am adjourning your case for the preparation of a pre-sentence report. But it would not be a kindness to you to leave you under any false impression as to the purpose of that report.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"There is only one sentence that can properly be handed down in this case, and a custodial sentence is inevitable.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Premium
All BlacksUpdated

Power and versatility: All Blacks selection shake-up

23 Jun 06:00 PM
Racing

'Over the moon': Taplin's first win with father watching

23 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

Ben Francis: The unlucky five players who missed All Blacks selection

23 Jun 08:10 AM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Premium
Power and versatility: All Blacks selection shake-up

Power and versatility: All Blacks selection shake-up

23 Jun 06:00 PM

Scott Robertson's second year sparks a notable selection shake-up for the All Blacks.

'Over the moon': Taplin's first win with father watching

'Over the moon': Taplin's first win with father watching

23 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Ben Francis: The unlucky five players who missed All Blacks selection

Ben Francis: The unlucky five players who missed All Blacks selection

23 Jun 08:10 AM
16 goals, six days and the damage to a 20-year legacy at Fifa Club World Cup

16 goals, six days and the damage to a 20-year legacy at Fifa Club World Cup

23 Jun 05:00 AM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP