Calum Best told Brit tourist ‘I’ve got something for you, close your eyes’ as he ‘put her hand down his shorts’ during Wayne Lineker’s 60th birthday party at Ibiza beach club …
- Best was summoned to appear before judges in Palma, Mallorca in April 2022
Published: 17:01, 9 January 2024 | Updated: 20:24, 9 January 2024
A British holidaymaker told a Spanish court today she was left in ‘shock and tears’ after George Best’s son Calum sexually assaulted her at Wayne Lineker’s beach club.
She alleged the reality TV[2] icon put her right hand down his shorts and onto his penis after kissing her and telling her: ‘I’ve got something for you, close your eyes.’
The woman claimed there was ‘some kind of forcing’ before she managed to withdraw her hand, tell a friend and raise the alarm with security staff at the O Beach club in Ibiza, but said her complaint was dismissed.
‘The security man asked if he was one of Wayne Lineker’s friends and when I said “yes” he laughed, said this happens all the time and told me he wasn’t going to call police,’ the woman told the judges today.
The woman made her shocking allegations at Calum Best’s sex assault trial today[3] at the Audiencia Nacional court in the Majorcan capital Palma where Spanish state prosecutors called for him to be jailed for three years if convicted.
The 42-year-old, the current chairman of Dorking Wanderers FC women’s team, was in court to hear her give evidence via video link from the UK.
Calum Best (seen today leaving court in Palma) faces an anxious wait for a verdict after he appeared in a Spanish court today accused of sexual assault
Best was summoned to appear before judges in Palma, Mallorca after a British woman accused him of forcing her to grope him at Wayne Lineker’s famous Ibiza club
The reality TV icon and only son of football legend George Best has been summoned to court after the incident in April 2022.
Pictured: Best seen in court today
Calum who won Celebrity Love Island in 2006 with Bianca Gascoigne and has starred in two series of Celebrity Big Brother
She admitted to agreeing to a request for a kiss on the lips after she followed him to a smoking area at Lineker’s famous beach club to ‘apologise’ for a previous disagreement after her friend ‘inadvertently’ pictured Best in the background in a video her friend took.
But she insisted his subsequent actions were unwanted, telling the court: ‘After the kiss Calum Best told me he wanted to show me something, took my hand and guided me round the corner and asked me to close my eyes.
‘Then he put my right hand down his shorts and guided it towards his penis.
‘My hands and his were there and he was sort of rubbing it and there was some kind of forcing, although not enough for me not to pull my hand away and out of his trousers which I did.
Asked by state prosecutor Miguel Tous if she had wanted that, she replied: ‘No. And it wasn’t what I expected when he asked me to close my eyes and told me he had something for me.’
She added: ‘I went back to my friend and she asked me what was wrong because she could tell something was up.
‘I remember crying and having a panic attack and going to speak to the security guard immediately afterwards.’
Calum, who won Celebrity Love Island in 2006 with Bianca Gascoigne[4] and has starred in two series of Celebrity Big Brother[5], remained impassive as he listened to her recollection of the events of the night of April 22, 2022.
The court heard it happened on the same night he and others celebrated Wayne Lineker’s 60th birthday at the club in the party resort of San Antonio.
London-based Best, taking to the stand in a light-grey suit over a light blue shirt, declined to answer questions from the state prosecutor or lead judge Jaime Tartalo but did agree to be questioned by his defence lawyer Jaime Campaner.
Calum, who won Celebrity Love Island in 2006 with Bianca Gascoigne and has starred in two series of Celebrity Big Brother. Pictured: Calum arriving at the Odeon in Leicester Square in 2003
The woman alleged the reality TV icon put her right hand down his shorts and onto his penis after kissing her and telling her: ‘I’ve got something for you, close your eyes.’
Calum Best (pictured today arriving in court) is being tried today in Spain over an alleged sex assault with the threat of a three-year prison sentence hanging over his head
Calum Best is seen in court today. His fate will be decided by three professional judges rather than a jury as jurors are not used for sex crime trials in Spain
Calum Best, 42, is seen arriving in court in Spain where he will stand trial today
Calum Best, pictured today arriving in court in the Spanish city of Palma on Mallorca
Best, who won Celebrity Love Island in 2006 with Bianca Gascoigne and has starred in two series of Celebrity Big Brother, was held in April 2022 over an incident at the O Beach Club (pictured) which was never made public at the time
He said he had consented to having his picture taken with his female accuser a couple of times but it felt ‘awkward’ when he was subsequently ‘followed’ by the woman as he went for a cigarette with an acquaintance and used the excuse of a DJ he recognised that was playing to leave the area quickly.
He denied her claims saying he got angry and had a prior altercation with the woman over photos or videos taken of him without his consent.
Recalling the moment police approached him on San Antonio seafront around 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 contested it many 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 dad died in 2005 aged 59 as a result of liver failure caused by alcohol[6] addiction: ‘I have thought about this a lot and the only things I can come up with are two.
‘One was that she had already asked me a couple of times for pictures and I wasn’t maybe reciprocating the same energy.
‘But the main thing is that I know people get very drunk at the O Beach club and I don’t think she would have made the allegations she did if she hadn’t been drinking heavily.’
CCTV footage from the party venue that night was shown to the court, although the large screen wasn’t turned round so it could be seen by the press and public.
It did not pick up the moment of the alleged sex assault and only the events immediately before and after it.
Calum Best is seen arriving at the courthouse in Spain today ahead of the trial
Calum Best is seen in a Spanish court today
Calum is seen as a young boy being carried by his father George Best in 1984, who scored 181 goals in 474 appearances for Manchester United and was capped 37 times by Northern Ireland
George Best is seen playing for Manchester United against Leicester at Old Trafford in 1972
The state prosecutor, telling the court a three-year prison sentence was the right punishment for Best if convicted, insisted in a brief closing speech: ‘For the prosecution the way the sexual assault happened has been proven here today in a clear and resounding manner.’
He said evidence an acquaintance of Best gave on his behalf, claiming he had spent all night bar 20 or 30 seconds with the reality TV star and ‘seen nothing,’ had been ‘prepared by the defendant.’
Best’s defence lawyer said the ten alcoholic drinks plus shots his female accuser had confessed to drinking that day was reason enough to treat her testimony with caution.
He highlighted what he described as ‘contradictions’ in evidence she gave police and what she was telling the court today, saying before the judges retired to consider their verdict: ‘A panic attack and tears suddenly appear in January 2024.’
He also flagged up the fact state prosecutors had stated in their pre-trial indictment Best had told his alleged victim ‘Feel This’ as he drew her hand towards his penis but his accuser had not used that expression in her court evidence.
Offered a final address to the court, Calum said: ‘Thank you for your time and thank you for listening to my testimony.’
He left the court a free man and can leave Majorca whenever he wants while the judges consider their verdict.
They are expected to announce their decision in writing over the next few weeks but no date has yet been announced.
The 42-year-old is the current chairman of Dorking Wanderers FC women’s team.
Pictured: Best pictured in 2016
Calum (pictured in 2021) was arrested on October 12 2015 in the UK after a 20-year-old woman claimed he had sexually assaulted her
The reality TV icon and only son of football legend George Best has been summoned to court following an arrest at a famous Ibiza beach club
Best is expected to appeal if he is found guilty and any sentencing hearing wouldn’t take place until after the appeal.
As well as the maximum jail sentence possible, Spanish state prosecutors want him served with a restraining order preventing him from going within 100 metres of the woman he is accused of targeting and trying to contact her for five years.
They also want him banned from working with minors for eight years if he is convicted as charged.
Calum, whose dad scored 181 goals in 474 appearances for Manchester United and was capped 37 times by Northern Ireland[7], was arrested on October 12 2015 in the UK after a 20-year-old woman claimed he had sexually assaulted her.
He was held at the Innside Hotel in Manchester following a night out with friends including Ex on the Beach[8] star Ashley Cain.
Greater Manchester Police[9] confirmed a fortnight later no further action was being taken.
A spokesman for Calum added at the time: ‘The police have now looked into the matter and have taken the decision that there will be no further action regarding these allegations.’
Greater Manchester PoliceNorthern Ireland[10][11]
References
- ^ Gerard Couzens In Spain (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ reality TV (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Calum Best’s sex assault trial today (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Bianca Gascoigne (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Celebrity Big Brother (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ alcohol (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Northern Ireland (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Ex on the Beach (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Manchester Police (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Greater Manchester Police (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Northern Ireland (www.dailymail.co.uk)