This Tuesday, December 17, 2024, the trial of the rugby player, author of a dangerous tackle which left Mathias Dantin, quadriplegic, was held. The defendant, aged 20, appears for “violence leading to permanent infidelity”. The facts date back to December 2022.
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The room of the Tarbes Criminal Court is full, the atmosphere heavy. According to our colleagues from France Bleu Occitanie, before the opening of the hearing this Tuesday, Mathias Dantin asked that he be recognized as a victim. “I need assistance 24 hours a day, I am not at all independent, it’s very complicated. My disability is very serious on a daily basis. I want my dignity restored and those around me to be respected for what we were forced to experience”declared the student who will soon be 19 years old.
The defendant declared – again according to our colleagues from France Bleu – that he no longer practiced this sport. “It’s very complicated for me to talk about rugby. It is a sport that has changed many lives. I no longer practice it (editor’s note: it is prohibited by the disciplinary committee), I no longer watch it, I no longer follow it. I don’t want to hear about it” explained the 20-year-old young man.
Mathias’ nightmare began on December 14, 2022 in Tarbes. During a school match (UNSS) between two high schools in the Hautes-Pyrénées, the Saint-Pierre-Pradeau-La Sède high school in Tarbes and Notre-Dame de Garaison in Monléon-Magnoac, Mathias Dantin was the victim of a “cathedral” tackle “. This involves grabbing an opponent, lifting them up, and causing them to dive headfirst toward the ground. This gesture is generally punished with a red card against the tackler.
The young Tarbes captain does not recover. The diagnosis is clear: cervical lesion. After several days in a coma, Mathias is quadriplegic.
“As soon as it happened to me, I immediately understood that there was an intention to harm, testifies Mathias. Because I had already released the ball, my back was to the defense, so he came behind me. And once he took me from behind, he lifted me up at waist level, he carried me 3-4 meters. And then, that’s when he swung me forward and slammed into the ground. What hit my head first and bent my neck” he explains in a report broadcast by France 3 Occitanie.
This Tuesday, December 17, the prosecutor requested a suspended prison sentence of 18 months against the young rugby player. He also asked that intentional violence be restrained.
The young man’s lawyer mentioned “a clumsy and dramatic gesture”, but which was not intended to intentionally cause harm. The accused wanted to pay tribute to the victim and apologize to her, “I admire his strength and courage. I’m sorry.”
The judgment is expected during the day of February 18.
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