BEST ‘PEST’ WAIT
Calum Best faces tense wait of up THREE MONTHS to find out if he’ll spend years in jail over ‘sex assault’ at Ibiza club
The reality star faces three years in jail if convicted
CALUM Best faces a tense wait of up to three months to find out whether he'll spend years behind bars after being tried over an alleged sexual assault.
The former reality star's alleged victim has accused him of sexually assaulting her at Wayne Lineker’s beach club in Ibiza in April 2022.
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The 42-year-old appeared in court in Majorca on Tuesday, where Spanish prosecutors deemed a three-year jail sentence was the right punishment for the alleged attack.
Best's defence lawyer Jaime Campaner told the three trial judges the TV star should be acquitted.
Best took the defence stand to deny any wrongdoing and note he had travelled to the island “to clear his name.”
Today sources have revealed the judges could announce their verdict and sentence if they convict him in around three weeks in a "best-case scenario", but nearly five times longer in a "worst-case option."
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One said: “Spanish law puts the time limit at 30 days but that cut-off point often gets extended and it’s accepted because of the workload judges face.
“There are of course instances when the decision comes back quicker but that’s not normal.
“The time frame I think we’re looking at is between 20 days and three months. It’s dependent on how much other work the judges have got on.”
Best’s alleged victim, a British holidaymaker, told the court she had a “panic attack” after Best “forced her hand on his crotch” and told her “I’ve got something for you, close your eyes.
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Best was arrested and held in custody for a day after the alleged incident at O Beach Club following a toast for friend Wayne Lineker’s 60th birthday.
Best’s accuser said she agreed to a kiss with the Celebrity Love Island winner, who has also starred in two series of Celebrity Big Brother, but insisted his subsequent actions were unwanted.
She also claimed a security guard dismissed her claims her when she raised the alarm at the beach club in the Ibizan party resort of San Antonio.
She claimed: “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.”
California-born Calum, the current chairman of Dorking Wanderers FC women’s team, denied her claims 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, he said: “They told me why they were there and I contested it many many times.
"I was in absolute shock.”
Asked by his lawyer why he thought his accuser had reported him, he linked it to the amount of booze - an estimated ten drinks plus shots - she had consumed beforehand.
While his wait for a decision continues Calum will remain a free man and will not be subject to any restrictions including travel restrictions.
The three trial judges will deliver their decision in writing.
Best can appeal if he is found guilty and Spanish state prosecutors will also be able to appeal if he is acquitted.
State prosecutor Miguel Tous also confirmed on Tuesday he wanted Best to be served with a restraining order preventing him from going within 330 feet of the alleged victim and trying to contact her for five years.
He also said he should be banned from working with minors for eight years if he is convicted as charged.
It comes as Best's media firm Trouble to Triumph has gone bust owing £85,000 to the taxman, it emerged on Thursday.
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The firm was set up in 2015 when he made his first Celebrity Big Brother appearance, which he was paid £50,000 for.
In 2022 Calum was declared the joint winner of SAS: Who Dares Wins.
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