Three Former British Athletes Convicted in Morocco Case

Three former British athletes were convicted in Morocco in a case connected to the sexual assault of a minor by former sprinter and UK Athletics coach Leon Baptiste, according to court records reviewed by BBC Sport. Hurdler Will Sharman and former bobsleigh competitors Richard Sharman and Lamin Deen were among five men convicted of participating in the enticement of a minor.

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BBC Sport reported that the five men received four-month suspended sentences and fines of 500 Moroccan dirhams each in June. Ashley O'Leary Jones and David Tuck were also convicted of the same offence. All five were acquitted of a separate charge of inciting a minor to engage in prostitution, and their convictions and sentences were upheld after an appeal hearing in July.

Representatives for the five men said they were never arrested and did not know they had been convicted until BBC Sport informed them. Through their lawyers, they rejected any suggestion that they had knowingly engaged in unlawful or improper conduct. They said they believed a payment made in Morocco was an administrative fine and that the matter had ended.

The court judgment, supplied to BBC Sport by the Moroccan public ministry, found that the men assisted Baptiste in deceiving the minor by being with him and the girl. The group's legal response said the men did not know the girl's age, that some did not recall seeing her at the nightclub where the group met her, and that they did not properly understand proceedings conducted outside English.

Baptiste, the 2010 Commonwealth Games 200-metre champion, was convicted of sexual assault of a minor and received a 10-month prison sentence, later reduced to eight months on appeal. BBC Sport said he is serving the sentence in Al-Oudaya prison and will be deported from Morocco after his release. He resigned from his consulting role with UK Athletics on August 18, citing unspecified ill health in a message sent on his behalf.

Will Sharman won Commonwealth 110-metre hurdles silver medals in 2010 and 2014. Richard Sharman competed for Britain in bobsleigh, while Deen raced at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. The UK Foreign Office, Home Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport declined BBC Sport's requests to comment on the convictions and potential safeguarding questions.