Calum Best has been cleared of sexually assaulting a British tourist at Wayne Lineker’s beach club in Ibiza after appearing in court last week.
The reality TV icon and son of legendary footballer George Best faced a prison sentence of up to three years if found guilty.
He had been warned he may have to wait up to three months for a verdict after his one-day trial last Tuesday at the Audiencia provincial court in the Mallorcan capital Palma.
But he learned today that he had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
The decision of the three trial judges to acquit him would have been unanimous.
Calum Best (pictured last week in Spain after a court hearing) has been acquitted of sexually assaulting a British tourist at Wayne Lineker’s beach club in Ibiza
Calum Best, 42, is seen in court in Spain last week where he stood trial
Calum Best appeared in court last week. The three judges’ decision today to acquit him would have been unanimous.
It was not immediately clear today whether Spanish prosecutors would appeal.
The judges said it was clear that the reality TV star and the woman who accused him of sexual assault had offered “contradictory versions” of what happened on the night of April 22, 2022.
But they insisted they did not have a ‘firm belief’ that Calum had committed the crime he was accused of after hearing and seeing the evidence against him and therefore his ‘right to innocence’ should prevail.
They added: ‘The complainant admitted that she had consumed alcoholic drinks before arriving at the club (approximately five cocktails and four or five other alcoholic drinks and a shot)… which is a factor in the perception of the events that you reports, could influence.’
The judges stressed that the “contradictions” raised by Calum’s lawyer during the trial in his female accuser’s statement to police and the courts immediately after his arrest and her evidence at his trial were not “relevant” and said that she had kept largely the same account of the night. events.
But they said their main issue was the lack of “external corroboration” of her version of what happened, adding: “The only other evidence provided by the prosecution in this regard comes from the CCTV cameras of the location that were partially viewed during the process. .
“This court has seen the images in their entirety and has not obtained from them any information to support its testimony with the certainty required by law regarding the right to the presumption of innocence.”
They confirmed that the unnamed British holidaymaker and Calum were out of view of the cameras for 19 seconds, but said what they saw after they reappeared on CCTV footage did not appear to be ‘compatible’ with the accuser’s claim that she went searching to her friend to tell her. she had been sexually abused.
The judges added: ‘There is no other information from external sources of evidence that supports the complainant’s testimony, and the court finds it relevant that her friend, who was with her during the first moments of the first contact with the suspect and allegedly accompanied her to a guard, did not appear at the hearing.
‘The security guard was also not mentioned as a witness.
‘The friend was identified in the police report and the guard would have been easy to identify.
“If evidence is available that could have been used to support testimony and it is not used in court without justifying the impossibility of doing so, a situation of objective doubt arises.”
They concluded: “In this case, the prosecution’s evidence was not sufficient to undermine the right to the presumption of innocence.”
The reality TV icon and son of legendary footballer George Best faced a prison sentence of up to three years if convicted, but today found out he had been acquitted
Best, who won Celebrity Love Island with Bianca Gascoigne in 2006 and starred in two series of Celebrity Big Brother, was held in April 2022 over an incident at the O Beach Club (pictured) that was never made public at the time
Prosecutor Miguel Tous demanded that Calum, 42, be jailed for three years if convicted at the end of his trial.
He also said he wanted the 2006 winner of Celebrity Love Island, who also starred in two series of Celebrity Big Brother, to get a restraining order banning him from coming within 100 yards of the woman he accuses was targeting and who he was trying to contact. her five years.
The female British tourist gave evidence during Calum’s trial via video link from Britain.
She told the court he sexually assaulted her by putting her hands down his shorts and on his penis after telling her: “I have something for you, close your eyes.”
She also claimed that a security guard told her when she raised the alarm at the O Beach club in Ibiza’s San Antonio party resort: ‘He asked if he was one of Wayne Lineker’s friends and when I said yes he laughed and said this happens all the time and told me he wasn’t going to call the police.’
Calum was arrested on April 22, 2022 and held in custody about a day late after leaving the beach club following a toast to friend Wayne Lineker’s 60th birthday.
Best’s lawyer Jaime Campaner told judges at his trial that they had to acquit his client after Best took the defense stand and insisted he had done nothing wrong and had traveled to the island “to clear his name.”
Calum Best posed with his arm over Wayne Lineker’s shoulder at his 60th birthday party
California-born Calum, the current chairman of the Dorking Wanderers FC women’s team, denied his female accuser’s claims that he became angry and had previously argued with the woman over photos or videos taken of him without his consent.
Recalling the moment police approached him on the San Antonio coast about half an hour after he left the club and he was taken to a nearby station, he said: “They told me why they were there and I disputed many times. I was in absolute shock.’
Asked by Mr Campaner why he thought his accuser had raised the alarm, self-confessed teetotaler Best, whose famous father died in 2005 aged 59 from alcohol addiction, said: ‘I’ve thought about this a lot and the only thing I can do with just the two of us.
“One was that she had already asked me for pictures a few times and maybe I didn’t reciprocate with the same energy.
‘But most importantly I know people get very drunk at the O Beach club and I don’t think she would have made these allegations if she hadn’t been drinking heavily.’
Best’s attorney said the 10 alcoholic drinks plus shots his female accuser admitted to drinking that day were reason enough to treat her testimony with caution.
He highlighted what he described as “contradictions” in the evidence she gave to police and what she told the court at Calum’s trial, saying before the judges retired to consider their verdict: “A panic attack and tears suddenly appear in January 2024.’
He also pointed to the fact that prosecutors had stated in their pre-trial indictment that Best had told his alleged victim “Feel This” as he pulled her hand toward his penis, but that his accuser had not used that phrase in her evidence before the court.
Calum is seen as a young boy who was carried in 1984 by his father George Best, who scored 181 goals in 474 games for Manchester United and was capped 37 times by Northern Ireland.
Calum Best is the son of legendary footballer George Best who he saw play for Manchester United against Leicester City at Old Trafford in 1972
The prosecutor, who told the court that a three-year prison sentence was the appropriate punishment for Best if convicted, emphasized in his brief closing speech at the end of Calum’s trial: “For the prosecutor, the manner in which the sexual assault took place here today proven. in a clear and resounding way.’
He said evidence given by an acquaintance of Best’s on his behalf, in which he claimed he had spent the entire night, apart from 20 or 30 seconds, with the reality TV star and “saw nothing”, “was due to the defendant was prepared’.
Calum made a final speech to the court, saying: ‘Thank you for your time and thank you for listening to my testimony.’
He left the court a free man while the judges deliberated their verdict.