Spain's High Court upholds sexual assault conviction of ex-soccer chief Luis Rubiales' in kiss case
The court rejected multiple appeals against the conviction, reaffirming Rubiales kissed Hermoso without her consent during the medal ceremony after Spain's women had won the trophy, according to the ruling seen by Reuters.
Rubiales was fined over €10,000 but acquitted of coercion charges alongside three co-defendants. Prosecutors had sought a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence and called for a retrial, both of which were dismissed.
The incident sparked widespread debate about sexism in Spanish society and women's football, fuelling momentum for the "Me Too" movement in the country.
Rubiales argued that his actions were motivated by an uncontrollable joy, but the court ruled that his restraint with other players and attendees demonstrated he could have avoided such behaviour with Hermoso.
"Since that emotion did not lead him to express his joy so effusively by kissing the other players or the accompanying persons in the box, and he restrained himself, he could also have done so, without too much effort, with the captain of the team," the court said.
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The begging text began to circulate earlier this summer and those who received it were urged to send it on to their own WhatsApp groups. However, Gilligan already needed to pay off his debts from previous court appearances before he can even consider applying for bail. The Spanish police operation leading to Gilligan's December 18 arrest was named Operation Overlord and involved officers from elite Spanish police anti-drug units, including one person based in the province of Murcia south of Alicante as well as the UK's National Crime Agency. Drugs (above) and (below) a gun seized from Gilligan's property by Spanish police . A spokesman for the National Police in Murcia said in the force's first statement after Gilligan's arrest, where he wasn't named but was described as a member of the Irish mafia, that: 'The National Police has dismantled a synthetic drugs lab. 'Nine people have been arrested, including the leader of the criminal organisation, a man belonging to the Irish mafia who had expanded his criminal activities to several parts of the eastern Spanish coast and continually changed home between the provinces of Murcia and Alicante to hinder his localisation.' According to reports in the Spanish media, police also recovered hand-written notes left behind by Gilligan in which he detailed his various drug deals and begs for cash 'to pay my bills'. Bizarrely, Gilligan appears to have put himself in legal difficulty by leaving exact notes about his drug-dealing operation. In the notes, the gangster had allegedly jotted down the details of some of his customers and other dealers, in code. He refers to a 'Jaime, 777, EBBS, Villa, John, Taxi Mark' while keeping note of payments made, the quantities of drugs delivered, and even agreements with other drug traffickers. 'Hi, Bud. Have a new deal for you,' reads a page in one of the notebooks seized by police. Along with ketamine he was 'getting for 170 euros an ounce here' there is an offer 'to you now 10oz for 1000'. John Gilligan is banged up in Spanish prison Today's News in 90 Seconds - 17 August He also has 'pink Tusi' also known as pink cocaine, that he was getting for 28g for 280 euros, adding 'they in 1 gram bag'. 'I can give you 3 ounces and 9 1kg bags for 400 euros,' he offers. Total cash for this deal is '1400.00' but the man who was once behind multi-million drug deals angles for a quick sale, adding: 'I need cash to pay my bills ASAP.' However, he adds 'if cant (sic), cool, bud.' Spanish police claim they recovered 'numerous chemical products, precursors and laboratory material or equipment was discovered' during the raids. They stated this confirmed 'the existence of a criminal organisation dedicated to establishing clandestine synthetic drug laboratories in our territory'. During the operation, the National Police seized more than 16 kilograms of Tusi; 2.5 kilos of cocaine; 540 litres of 'precursors'; 93.5 kilograms of cutting substances for the production of synthetic drugs and a 75-litre drum of methylamine. The seized drugs could have reached a value on the illicit market 'of between four and eight million euros.'
