“A player whose aggressive side I had already noticed”: suspended prison sentence required for the young rugby player whose tackle left Mathias Dantin quadriplegic

An 18-month suspended prison sentence was requested on Tuesday in Tarbes against a young rugby player for a tackle which left one of his opponents quadriplegic during a school match two years ago.

This Wednesday, December 14, 2022, a rugby sevens match between two high schools in the Hautes-Pyrénées comes to an end when Mathias Dantin, 17 years old at the time, is the victim of a bad tackle. The young man hit in the neck does not get up. Since then, diagnosed as “incomplete quadriplegic”, he has been living in an automated wheelchair, he explained in a video for the daily La Dépêche du Midi, specifying that he has lost the use of his lower limbs and only enjoys very limited mobility. partial of his arms.

“I suffered an attack”

At the bar of the Tarbes criminal court, the young man who received the support of the XV of France or certain players from Stade Toulouse, came to ask that his damage be fully recognized and fairly compensated. “I suffered an attack. He is a player whose aggressive side I had already noticed during a previous UNSS (National School Sports Union) tournament. Like me, he played in a club and had a higher level than the other students. He wanted to show it (…) And by wanting to show, when you don’t master it, what happened to me happens.”

Facing him, the 20-year-old defendant defended himself from any intentional violence. “Since this accident, rugby is over for me. It has even become complicated to watch a match,” he explained in court. His lawyer, Pascal Nakache, spoke of “a clumsy and dramatic gesture” but “which at no time intended to hurt the victim”.

The tragedy pushed the UNSS to suspend the practice of rugby under its auspices for a month. At the end of the debates, the defendant wanted to pay tribute to the victim. “I admire her strength and courage. I’m sorry.” Judgment expected on February 18.