Trial of the ex-Grenoblois – “We wanted to put pressure on them”, admits Denis Coulson’s lawyer after the testimonies of Peter Kimlin and Dayna Edwards

Thursday morning, the court heard two important witnesses, two former FC Grenoble players, Dayna Edwards and Peter Kimlin, both aged thirty-nine and now retired from rugby. They were both in the group of players who met the complainant and her friends in a pub in the center of Bordeaux before going to a more peripheral Bordeaux nightclub. They were not implicated by French justice in this case. The two men were not in Bordeaux, they were on a video conference since they both returned to live in Australia, their country of origin. Peter Kimlin’s testimony was quite anticipated because he was in the taxi which brought the complainant and Denis Coulson back to the Mérignac hotel. Here are the reactions of some of those who heard these two men speak.

Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, lawyer for Denis Coulson. “We heard from two former players that we tried to kill them for hours. Well, not to slaughter them, but to put pressure on them to retract their statements. But their statements confirm that the perception they had at the time was that this young girl was in her normal state. Well, that they had all been drinking but that didn’t stop her from having oral sex in the taxi.”

Philip Fitzgerald, lawyer for Rory Grice. “We situate ourselves in the context of the evening. We wanted to recall where Rory Grice was at this or that time of the evening and compare his position with the complainant’s state of alcoholism. Timing is very important in this matter.” (Editor’s note: Grice’s lawyers point out as often as possible that Rory Grice did not enter the room until long after the arrival of the complainant and Denis Coulson).

Valérie Coriatt, lawyer for Rory Grice. “Messrs Edwards and Kimlin were questioned at great length. We made sure to place them in a difficult situation almost by letting them understand that they were very lucky not to be indicted in this affair. Afterwards, he It is true that they were not specifically questioned about our client Rory Grice The debates mainly took place in relation to the civil party, in particular with Mr. Kimlin since he was in the taxi with her and Denis Coulson. , we wanted recall real and factual elements, Rory Grice spent the evening with the complainant’s English friend, each one having taken over the other, obviously enjoying themselves. is that it did not allow Rory Grice to assess or not the progress of the complainant’s alcoholism, then that he is never with her and that he does not leave with her and that ‘he doesn’t come back not with her and that he arrives an hour later To return to Mr. Kimlin, he mainly spoke, although we wanted him to say the opposite, of what he thought he heard, which was-. that is to say, watching from the back on the bench the beginning of lovemaking between two people who seemed consenting and that is why he placed himself at the front of the vehicle to let what had begun in the nightclub. There too, we wanted to make him say the opposite.”

Grégoire Mouly, lawyer for the plaintiff : “This morning we had two well-known colleagues of the accused. They tend to forget certain things and remember other things that had never been said before, or even that they changed depending on their statements. But all this shows one thing, the evening was very drunk. Everyone was drunk. the car? It was a long discussion. We don’t know if it’s true, we don’t know if it’s false. He didn’t necessarily see things directly. He didn’t hesitate to say that he thought she was sick. he made the connection with his blood alcohol content. I had the feeling that the witnesses were trying to avoid certain questions.”