THERE are many darkly depressing elements to the story of cricketer Alex Hepburn. One of these is that it took going through the criminal justice system before a young man of 23 encountered a male role model who would so clearly set out for him why his behaviour was appalling, sexist and treated women like "pieces of meat".

Hepburn was this week sentenced to five years imprisonment for rape. Following a night out with teammates, the former Worcestershire cricketer had encountered a woman dozing in a flat and had raped her.

Why is it that so many of these stories of sportsmen in the dock fall against a backdrop of "a night out with teammates"?

In this case, Hepburn and a group of his teammates had just begun a sexual conquest game, the 'rules' of which were shared in a WhatsApp group. They made for stark, unsettling reading, as did the more general messages between Hepburn and his close friend, and fellow cricketer, Joe Clarke.

Their language to describe women is eye-popping; dehumanising, arrogant. They bemoaned the small pool of suitably attractive women in Worcestershire for a "pair of tens" such as themselves and referred to women as "freshies or re heats." One of Hepburn's messages to Mr Clarke, presumably sent in what the 23-year-old believed to be a spirit of laddish bravado rather than truth, included the words: "Always been me dragging the birds back. You raping them."

On the night in question, two years ago, Mr Clarke brought a woman home and Hepburn raped her. The woman had slept with Mr Clarke who then went to the bathroom to be sick, before passing out on the floor.

Hepburn found her sleeping and assaulted her. It was dark and she initially thought Mr Clarke had returned but then heard Hepburn's Australian accent. A passer-by found her distressed and crying in the street. Her victim impact statement, read to Hereford Crown Court, described her suffering in the following years, how she has PTSD, has struggled to hold down a job and has suffered the indignity of having her intimate life described in court in front of her family members.

In his sentencing remarks, the judge acknowledged the damage done to the woman and, in what felt refreshing but, of course, we should expect as standard, Judge Jim Tindall emphasised that the events of that night were not her fault.

Too often in rape cases there is victim blaming. It is only six months since Irish women shared pictures of their underwear online in protest against a lawyer who, representing a man accused of raping a 17-year-old girl, held the teenager's underwear up in court with the words "You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front."

Too often there is slut shaming, when women are vilified for going home with men after nights out before being attacked, but Judge Tindall allowed Hepburn's victim sexual agency. It is frustrating that that feels refreshing.

The judge's remarks to Hepburn were utterly scathing. "You thought you were God's gift to women," he said. "You did see her at that moment as a piece of meat, not a woman entitled to respect."

"Sex is something people do together. Sex is never something a man does to a woman, arrogantly assuming consent - in a relationship, let alone as you did."

Hepburn's behaviour was not secret, it was shared quite openly with his teammates. Had they challenged him, instead of going along with his behaviour, we might not have a victim now. Pack behaviour, for young men full of insecurity and bravado, must be difficult to break but let's hope the judge's words ring in the ears of the boys who were involved.

It will be interesting, too, to see how the cricket world responds to Hepburn on his release from prison. For too long the sport industry has made light of the serious transgressions of its talent purely for the sake of that talent.

Last year Rangers Football Club signed former Liverpool player Jon Flanagan following his conviction for common assault after beating up his girlfriend on a night out.

Sports writers bent over backwards to minimise what the court called a "prolonged attack", naming it instead "an early morning scrap" or "issues in his personal life".

Gary McAllister, assistant manager of Rangers, said at the time Flanagan wanted to "get on with his life and his football life" and said the medical stages of assessing him would take a while because Flanagan had "problems in the past with parts of his body.” Yes, his fists. But how quickly we forget a man's brutality towards a woman when he is skilled at displacing a ball around a grass area.

Hepburn used the word "rape" lightly, as a joke. We've seen Lauren Mayberry, of the band CHVRCHES, subjected to rape threats this week after speaking out against one of her collaborator's decisions to work with the musicians Tyga and Chris Brown.

CHVRCHES had worked with Marshmello on a recent single. He then went on to work with Tyga, who has denied exchanging sexual messages with a 14-year-old girl, and Brown, who is convicted of domestic abuse.

Ms Mayberry is now afraid to return home and has security at her gigs, such has been the level of threat against her. It is another example of the word rape being used so casually but with such devastating consequences.

As Hepburn cried in court during sentencing, the seriousness of the word must surely have dawned on him. Yes, let's hope Judge Tindall's comments ring in the ears of those involved, and ring in the ears of all men like Hepburn and those who enable them. How Hepburn was dealt with is a gold standard, when it should be only standard.