The two professionals were cleared on Wednesday
Two British footballers who were arrested after a holidaymaker claimed she had been raped in an Ibiza hotel in 2018 have been cleared of any charges.
As reported by The Mail, a judge ruled on Wednesday that both Karlan Grant of West Bromwich Albion and Reeco Hackett-Fairchild of Portsmouth shouldn’t face any further action – almost four years after they were arrested.
Both footballers, who were playing for Charlton Athletic at the time, were not allowed to leave Ibiza for a month after they were held by police in June, 2018.
Jaime Campaner, Hackett-Fairchild’s lawyer, claimed that while he was happy with the decision, his client was left frustrated by the length of time the investigation had taken.
“Sadly it doesn’t surprise me that it’s taken this long for the court to reach this decision,” he said.
“It corresponds with the normality of the judicial situation in Ibiza which is a total abnormality.
“Reeco is obviously very happy with the outcome but he’s had the shadow of doubt hanging over his head for far too long because we all know that the presumption of innocence is not something that people always respect.
“Fortunately this ordeal has now reached its end.”
‘The visualisation of the images permit confirmation of the version of events of the men investigated’
The wait for the outcome occurred despite a female judge, who questioned them after their arrests, admitting she had “reasonable doubts” that the alleged incident had taken place.
Carmen Robles Zamora also said in her written ruling that the players’ version of events were “credible and coherent” which played a role in her decision not to remand the players and a third unnamed man in custody.
It said: “The content of the recordings shows no act of violence or intimidation.
“The visualisation of the images permit confirmation of the version of events of the men investigated which were always that the sexual relations were consensual.”
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