Barton Rovers FC shocked to find Kieran Hamilton was paedophile

Kieran Hamilton scored for Barton Rovers FC in a 1-1 draw the day after being convicted of raping a child

A football club said it was "shocked" to discover one of its players had been convicted of rape the day before playing and scoring an equaliser.

Kieran Hamilton, 21, of Luton, was convicted of rape at Luton Crown Court on Friday. He previously admitted two counts of sexual activity with a child.

On Saturday, he scored for Southern League Division One Central Barton Rovers FC against Walthamstow FC.

Barton Rovers chairman Darren Whiley said it "knew nothing about" the case.

Hamilton, of Chesford Road, also pleaded guilty to causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Mr Whiley said the first the club knew about the convictions was when a local newspaper called him on Monday after Bedfordshire Police issued a press release about the case.

The club said it would not have played Kieran Hamilton on Saturday had it known about the offences

The force said Hamilton, who was 17 at the time, added the victim, then aged 14, on Snapchat in December 2018 and convinced her to send him "explicit pictures".

"Hamilton then used these images as leverage over the victim and forced her to meet up with him twice in Luton in January and February," police said.

"On both meet-ups, Hamilton forced his victim to engage in sexual activity with him in public places, including raping her on one occasion.

"The victim told police that she felt she had to do what Hamilton wanted so he would not share the photos of her."

The force said the victim told her mother what had happened after the second meet-up in February 2019 and it was reported to police, who were "able to forensically link Hamilton to the attack".

'Terminated our relationship'

Last year Hamilton admitted two counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He denied two counts of rape but was found guilty of one count on Friday. He is due to be sentenced on 12 May.

Mr Whiley said had the club known about the offences, he would not have been playing for them.

"As soon as we found out we had meetings to see what anybody knew and nobody knew anything about the situation," he said.

"We then terminated his registration with us and terminated our relationship with the player.

"If we had known we wouldn't have played him on Saturday.

"Kieran scored for us on Saturday, which has come under a lot of criticism and people are contacting the Southern League to take points away from us."

'Tricky situation'

Mr Whiley said he thought a system should be in place to prevent situations like this from occurring.

"It's a tricky situation but I believe something should have been done," he said.

"It's something we could have acted upon sooner.

"I feel there should and could be a mechanism within sport and the police and local authorities to try and alert people to things like this."

A spokesperson for Bedfordshire Police said: "We will disclose criminal convictions to employers in certain circumstances where there is a legitimate policing purpose to do so.

"This can be, for example, where there are specific safeguarding concerns, such as if someone works directly with children or vulnerable adults.

"A criminal conviction would also appear on any DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check, which we would encourage sports clubs to regularly run on their employees."