Three Leicester City players charged in Spain
 

Three English Premier League soccer players were charged with sexual assault Friday in Spain.

The three Leicester City players — Keith Gillespie of Northern Ireland, Frank Sinclair from Jamaica and Paul Dickov of Scotland — were sent to jail outside the city of Murcia and expected to appear in court again Monday, a court official said.

They were also charged with breaking and entering and failing to come to the aid of a person in distress.

Two other players from the team, Matt Elliott of Scotland and Lilian Nalis of France, were freed without charges while James Scowcroft of England was released on bail of 20,000 euros ($32,640 Cdn).

In Spain, conviction for sexual assault carries a maximum sentence of 12 years. For breaking and entry, it's six years.

Nine Leicester City players, in Spain for a training camp, were arrested Wednesday in southeast Spain following a complaint from three women. They claim the players forced their way into a hotel room in Cartagena and sexually assaulted them, causing injuries, according to a police statement.

The women filed the complaint Tuesday, but it was not immediately clear when the incident is alleged to have occurred. They reported it at Alicante airport, police said. They were bound for Germany but were asked to remain in Spain to give evidence.

On Thursday night, two other players who had been arrested — Greece's Nikos Dabizas and Welshman Danny Coyne — were freed conditionally. German Steffen Freund was released without charges.

The three women were questioned Thursday night by Judge Pilar Perez Martin. One limped visibly as she walked into the courthouse with her head covered.

According to the police statement, a guard at the hotel in the Los Belones area of Cartagena said some of the players had appeared to be drunk and had been bothering other customers.

The Leicester club was on a mid-season break this week at the nearby La Manga complex, which boasts top-notch sports facilities, including soccer pitches, championship golf courses and a tennis centre, and is regularly visited by soccer teams from abroad.

Leicester was also involved in trouble at the La Manga complex four years ago, when former England international striker Stan Collymore set off a fire extinguisher in a hotel bar. The team was asked to leave their hotel and returned home. Collymore, who has since retired from soccer, was fined by the club and ordered to do community work.

Leicester, which faces relegation from the English Premier League, arrived in Spain on Sunday after a dismal run of 15 league and cup games without a win. It is not due to play again in the Premier League until March 13 against Birmingham.

Two high-profile sexual assault cases hit English soccer earlier this season.

Leeds United midfielder Jody Morris is due in court his month to face charges of raping a 20-year-old woman last October.

In an unrelated case, a 17-year-old girl alleged she was gang-raped in a five-star London hotel by English league players last September. Premier League players Carlton Cole and Titus Bramble were arrested but released without charge after an investigation. Two other men, not soccer players, also had charges dropped after police said there was insufficient evidence for a conviction.

hmmmm, seems very suspicious to me indeed. they don't seem like the sort of players to do something like that. maybe the spanish police connection is more valuable than the report gives credit for.....

aye you can't help but take these things with a massive pinch of salt.

i mean how many non famous "gang rapes" do you ever hear about? not alot


saying that. 6 years for breaking and entering. great stuff we should have sentences like that over here.