Justice – Five “Grenoblois” facing charges of “rape” and “failure to assist a person in danger”, the trial finally adjourned?

This Monday at 2 p.m. should in principle begin the trial of former FC Grenoble players accused of having abused a young girl, on the night of March 11 to 12, 2017 in a hotel in Mérignac (Gironde), room 908. Hearings must be held from June 17 to 28 at the Bordeaux Courthouse, knowing that the victim could request total or partial closed session. But, on Friday, we learned that one of the protagonists, the former pillar Denis Coulson, would have been the victim of a traffic accident on June 12 which would have earned him six weeks of ITT (temporary total incapacity), which would make it possible to postpone the trial. Information that the prosecution did not confirm, however, this weekend, as it was not yet certain of the inability of the former Irish pillar to appear at the trial. As it stands, the hearing is therefore maintained and will open at the scheduled time.

Alcohol, sex and video

This trial, that of a seven-year-old case, will be that of the excesses which can occur in the famous post-match evenings, against a backdrop of alcohol and one-night stands, when young players unwind in night establishments. And go beyond the limits. We recall the facts: a young girl, then a student, filed a complaint on March 12, 2017, after spending the night in the company of several men after an evening at a nightclub. A few weeks later, three players from Grenoble, who came to face the UBB in Bordeaux that weekend, are indicted for “gang rape”: they are the Irishman Denis Coulson, the Frenchman Loïck Jammes and the New Zealander Rory Grice . Two other players are indicted for “failure to assist a person in danger”: the Irishman Chris Farrell and the New Zealander Dylan Hayes.

The five men had met the young girl in a nightclub, they brought her to their hotel in an Uber. At this stage, there is no doubt that she spent the night with them, in the same room, and that she had sexual relations with three of them. The investigation demonstrated this, based, among other things, on a video shared on Snapchat. The investigation also mentions penetration and touching with various objects. One thing is certain, the events took place against a backdrop of high blood alcohol levels. The girl’s alcohol level was estimated at between 2.2 and 3 grams per liter of blood.

Consent, nodal point

The investigation analyzed video surveillance images, Snapchat video, testimonies from the protagonists and witnesses (neighbors, taxi and Uber driver, hotel receptionist). The police also had access to the internet searches of Grenoble players, and to their conversations via Whatsapp messaging. The next day, on the plane back to Grenoble and as the seriousness of the alleged facts dawned on the players, one of them searched Google for the terms “What to do when you’ve slept with a drunk girl?” Or “alcohol and consent”. Because this is the central point of this trial: the notion of consent, in an evening where the victim was drunk at the time of the events, to the point of conceding a posteriori to his amnesia.

Those indicted risk a lot: up to twenty years of detention for the three accused of rape, Loïck Jammes (who currently plays for Provence Rugby), Denis Coulson (who stopped his career) and Rory Grice (who was at Oyonnax this season). The other two, Farrell (Oyonnax) and Hayes (Valence-Romans) risk “lighter” sentences: up to five years in prison.