The Provincial Court of Palma has acquitted Calum Best, son of the legendary Northern Irish footballer George Best, of sexually abusing a young woman in Ibiza. The court considers that there is no evidence against him and that the victim’s account does not carry enough weight to consider the abuse, for which the prosecution was demanding a three-year prison sentence, to be proven. The court thus agrees with Best’s lawyer, Jaime Campaner, who demanded that the accused be acquitted.
Calum Best, model and star of TV quiz shows in the UKwas tried on the 9th of April 2022 by the first section of the Court of Palma for facts reported in April 2022. The complainant explained in the oral hearing that she coincided with Best in a local during her vacations in Ibiza and she and a friend of hers had an incident with him for recording a video in which he appeared. The girl said she went after Best to ask for his forgiveness. “He gave me a kiss on the lips and said he wanted to show me something. He took me to a corner and told me to close my eyes. He guided my hand, put it inside his pants and made me touch his penis“, he stated.
Best denied all charges. In court, he claimed that he was never alone with the young woman. She approached him on two occasions to take a photo together, to which he agreed. Then, when he went to smoke with a friend upstairs, she followed them. “That was already a little strange. My friend and I went downstairs right away and I never saw her again“, he detailed.
The magistrates consider that “in order to be criminally condemned the facts that make up the accusation must have been accredited on the basis of the evidence presented at the oral trial with all the guarantees, of which the accused has been able to defend himself, and the result of which, evaluated by the court that has witnessed it, leads to the certainty of the reality of the facts and of the accused’s authorship”. The Chamber points out that if this firm conviction of the court is not obtained, “either because no incriminating evidence has been presented at the trial, or because, even when such evidence exists, its incriminating content is not sufficient and reasonable doubts remain, the sentence must necessarily be acquittal”.
According to the resolution, the Court emphasizes that it is not the defendant who must prove his innocence, but rather the burden of proving the facts rests with the accusing parties. The magistrates point out that although the complainant’s statement “meets some of the aforementioned legal parameters, it does not prove her innocenceor becomes a skillful means to destroy the presumption of innocence that protects the accused”.
The resolution is not final, an appeal can be made to the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands.
Calum Best, 42 years old, is the son of George Best, manchester United legend deceased in 2005. She is a model and has participated in numerous competitions on British television. In 2006 she was the winner of the show Celebrity Love Island.
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