A week after the opening of the trial for rape of the five ex-rugby players of FC Grenoble, the alleged victim delivered her version of the facts before the Gironde Assize Court. A testimony marked by a “blackout” at the time of the events in 2017.
Company
From daily life to major issues, discover the subjects that make up local society, such as justice, education, health and family.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the “Society” newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
Seven long years have passed. And seven years later, a young woman, now aged 27, was expected at the bar of the Gironde Assize Court. Her highly anticipated testimony was to return to this night in 2017 during which she claims to have been the victim of a gang rape involving five former rugby players from FC Grenoble.
In a trial which is taking place behind closed doors, at the request of the complainant, it was necessary to wait for a session to be suspended to discover the ins and outs of her speech. “She explained herself with sincerity and modesty. She had the emotion you can imagine but she was very dignified“, said Me Gaessy Gros to AFP. “She said the same thing she always said, right from the start.“
She returned to this evening in 2017. During a “third half” festive which was held in a bar after a Top 14 match between Union Bordeaux-Bègles and FC Grenoble, she met several Grenoble players.
The evening then continued in a discotheque, where alcohol flowed freely. “The blackout begins when leaving the disco“, reported Me Gros. The complainant claims to have come to her senses naked on a hotel bed, with a crutch in her vagina, surrounded by two naked men and others dressed.
The young woman, who was 20 at the time, said she was raped while she was in a daze. In front of her, five ex-FCG players sit in the dock. The defendants, the Irishman Denis Coulson, the Frenchman Loïck Jammes and the New Zealander Rory Grice, recognize the sexual relations but plead consent.
The Irishman Chris Farrell and the New Zealander Dylan Hayes appear in court for having witnessed the scene without intervening, in a hotel room in Mérignac, a suburb of Bordeaux.
The problem isn’t how she feels, it’s what the boys thought of her behavior.
Me Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, avocate de Denis Coulson
In the afternoon, the alleged victim answered questions from the defense. At the end of the hearing, at midday, Me Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, Denis Coulson’s lawyer declared: “For us, there is absolutely no question of thinking that this young woman is lying. She has a trauma, she wakes up, she finds herself in a hotel room with rugby players, naked. We understand that she is in a panic situation.“
“But the problem isn’t how she feels, it’s what the boys thought of her behavior.“, she adds, referring to a video shot by her client during a sexual act. According to her, the young woman shows herself in it.active, she’s not a weakling, she’s not in an alcoholic coma. Her behavior suggests that she was consenting and participatory“.
The trial opened on Monday December 2 and will take place behind closed doors until December 13 before the Gironde Assize Court.
