Reality TV icon Calum Best has said he has been vindicated in his first comments since being cleared of sexually assaulting a British holidaymaker at Wayne Lineker’s Ibiza beach club.
The 42-year-old son of late footballer George Best was told yesterday he had been acquitted after a one-day trial just over a week ago at a court in Majorca.
The three trial judges ruled Spanish state prosecutors had not done enough to convince them Calum had forced his alleged victim to put her hand down his shorts and onto his penis as she claimed in her court testimony.
They pointed to the lack of ‘external corroboration’ of the tourist’s version of events and questioned why a female friend with her at the time and a security guard she said she had sought help from were not called to give evidence.
Calum, the 2006 Celebrity Love Island winner who has also starred in two series of Celebrity Big Brother, protested his innocence from the dock.
Reality TV icon Calum Best (pictured leaving court in Spain last week) has said he has been vindicated in his first comments since being cleared of sexually assaulting a British holidaymaker at Wayne Lineker’s Ibiza beach club
In an Instagram Stories message alongside part of a news report confirming his acquittal, he wrote: ‘The truth prevails. I have been acquitted and won my case. Thank you everyone for all your messages of support.’
Calum Best is seen in court last week. The three trial judges’ decision on Wednesday to acquit him is understood to have been unanimous
And in his first comments late yesterday he said the ‘truth had prevailed’ and thanked fans for their support.
In an Instagram Stories message alongside part of a news report confirming his acquittal, he wrote: ‘The truth prevails. I have been acquitted and won my case. Thank you everyone for all your messages of support.’
He finished the emotional post off – which was imposed over a scenic image of a lake and rolling hills in the distance -with a heart emoticon.
Californian-born Calum, now based in the UK, was arrested late on April 22, 2022 after leaving the O Beach club in the Ibizan party resort of San Antonio.
He was held in custody for around a day before being released but told he would continue to be investigated.
He was charged after a lengthy behind-closed-doors probe and told to report for trial last Tuesday at the Audiencia Provincial court in the Majorcan capital Palma.
His female accuser gave evidence via video-link from the UK.
She claimed Calum, the current chairman of Dorking Wanderers FC women’s team, sexually assaulted her by putting her hands down his shorts and onto his penis after telling her: ‘I’ve got something for you, close your eyes.’
The reality TV icon and son of legendary footballer George Best was facing a prison sentence of up to three years if convicted, but found out on Wednesday that he had been acquitted
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 in Ibiza (pictured) which was never made public at the time
Calum Best posed with his arm over Wayne Lineker’s shoulder at his 60th birthday party
Referring to the security guard she said she raised the alarm with at O Beach club, the tourist recalled: ‘He 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.’
Best’s defence lawyer Jaime Campaner told the judges at his trial they should acquit his client after the legendary former Manchester United star’s son took the defence stand to insist he had done nothing wrong and had travelled to Majorca ‘to clear his name.’
In their acquittal decision the judges highlighted the lack of ‘external corroboration’ of the female tourist’s version of events, confirming the CCTV images available had not offered information backing her claims.
They said in their six-page written ruling: ‘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 in the initial moments of the first contact with the accused and is said to have accompanied her to see a security guard, did not appear at trial.
Calum Best is the son of legendary footballer, George Best seen playing for Manchester United against Leicester City at Old Trafford in 1972
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
‘The security guard has not been cited as a witness either.
‘The friend was identified in the police report and the security guard would have been easily identifiable.
‘When evidence is available that could have been used to support a testimony and it is not used in court without justifying the impossibility of doing so, a situation of objective doubt is created.’
They concluded: ‘In this case, the prosecution’s evidence has not been sufficient to undermine the right to the presumption of innocence.’