British athletes sentenced in Morocco for involvement in minor's sexual assault case

Leon Baptiste, a former Commonwealth Games 200 m champion and UK Athletics coach, was sentenced to ten months in Al-Oudaya prison for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old Moroccan girl, a term later cut to eight months on appeal. In the same case, five other former British athletes - hurdler Will Sharman, his brother Richard Sharman, ex-bobsleigh competitor Lamin Deen, Ashley O'Leary Jones and David Tuck - were each given four-month suspended sentences and fines of 500 dirhams after being found guilty of aiding Baptiste in enticing the minor.

The defendants maintain they never knew the girl’s age and only discovered the convictions after a report. Moroccan authorities raided a villa near Marrakech after the victim reported being lured to the property, not being paid for promised sex, and subsequently assaulted by a housekeeper. Additional convictions were handed to the villa’s housekeeper, two security guards and the Montecristo nightclub manager. The victim was awarded 60,000 dirhams in civil compensation, payable by all convicted parties.