Three former Rugby players from Grenoble sentenced to twelve to fourteen years in prison for the rape of a student after a match

After two weeks of trial behind closed doors and more than nine hours of deliberation, three former Rugby players from Grenoble were sentenced, Friday, December 13, to sentences of twelve to fourteen years of criminal imprisonment for having raped a young woman, in 2017 in Bordeaux, after a very alcoholic evening which followed a Top 14 championship match.

In detail, the Irishman Denis Coulson and the Frenchman Loïck Jammes were sentenced to fourteen years in prison, and the New Zealander Rory Grice to twelve years.

These convictions are in accordance with the requisitions of the attorney general. The acts of “gang rape” of which they were accused are punishable by twenty years in prison. The lawyers for the three men have announced their desire to appeal and file a request for release as quickly as possible.

On the morning of March 12, 2017, the victim, then aged 20, left in tears a hotel in Mérignac, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, where the Grenoble team had stayed after its defeat against Union Bordeaux-Bègles. The student had filed a complaint, stating that she had met players in a bar and followed them to a nightclub during a very alcoholic evening, without remembering what happened next. She added that she woke up the next day, naked on a bed with a crutch tip in her vagina, surrounded by two naked men and others dressed.

2.2 to 3 grams of alcohol per liter of blood

Coulson, Jammes and Grice admitted to having had sexual relations with the young woman but assured from the beginning that she consented and even took initiatives, a version maintained at the trial. Based in particular on a video filmed by Coulson, the prosecution mentioned several fellatios and the introduction of a banana, a bottle and crutches into the victim’s vagina.

According to a toxicological expert, she had between 2.2 and 3 grams of alcohol per liter of blood. According to video surveillance footage, she could barely stand when she arrived at the hotel, to the point of being “constantly maintained” by one of the accused.

Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, lawyer for Irishman Denis Coulson, now 30 years old and converted to construction, said “extremely shocked” by the verdict. “The court did not take into account the fact that the facts date back seven years, that my client was 22 years old at the time and that he did not serve any days of detention. What is the benefit for society of sentencing him to fourteen years? None, except to destroy a life”she said.

One of Loïck Jammes’ lawyers, M^e Jean-Félix Luciani, also denounced “unjust sentences, of certainly obvious severity, but which remain sentences of first instance”.

“This evening, we sent a message, we told a victim that we believe her. (…) These boys were told they had no right to do what they did to the victim.”on the other hand reacted M^e Grégoire Mouly, lawyer for the victim.

“It sends a very strong signal to the men of this country, to the world of rugby, and to women too. Ladies, you can dress as you want, drink as much as you want, this freedom is priceless, even if we wanted to call it into question”said another lawyer for the victim, M^e Gaessy Gros.

Two other players sentenced for not intervening

Unlike Denis Coulson, Loïck Jammes (30 years old) and Rory Grice (34 years old) still play rugby, the first in Aix-en-Provence and the second in Oyonnax, two Pro D2 clubs. The Provence Rugby club, which expressed in a press release its “sincere thoughts for the complainant”said to reserve “the right to make additional decisions” against Jammes, while ensuring “obviously respect the possibility of appeal”.

The Gironde Assize Court also sentenced the Irishman Chris Farrell (31 years old), who also plays in Oyonnax, to four years in prison, two of which were suspended, and the New Zealander Dylan Hayes (30 years old), today unemployed, two years suspended, for having witnessed all or part of the events without intervening.

This verdict comes three days after the dismissal of the case pronounced by the Argentine courts in the proceedings for aggravated rape which targeted two French internationals, Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou. She considered that their relationship with the complainant, met in a nightclub on the evening of their first selection in Argentina, had been consensual. The latter’s lawyer will appeal.