The former Australian international and president of Narbonne was sentenced to five years in prison by the Narbonne court for forgery, use of forgery and misuse of company property. Targeted by an international warrant, the former third line left Dublin when Irish police officers came to arrest him at his home.
Rugby once again fuels the “news stories” section. Sentenced on October 11 to five years in prison by the Narbonne court for forgery, use of forgery and misuse of company assets in his management of the RCNM between 2015 and 2016, Rocky Elsom, ex-president of the club and former renowned Australian international (75 selections), has since been targeted by an international warrant.
Three weeks after his conviction, Irish police officers came knocking on the door of his home in Dublin, but left empty-handed. The reason? The former Wallaby fled the country as soon as the trial was over and the international warrant was launched, as he himself explained to the Australian newspaper. The Sydney Morning Herald. “To the Guard (Republic of Ireland National Police Force, Editor's note) came to where I worked, to my home, with the intention of detaining me. All I can say is that I spoke to the Garda, who told me that if I found myself in Ireland they should bring me in. So I said I wasn't in Ireland and I wasn't going there any time soon.”
I keep my head down
Where could the former player and president of RC Narbonne be hiding? No one knows. Rocky Elsom has in any case fled to avoid extradition and is not ready to accept the deliberations of the trial which he considers unfair. To our Australian colleagues, he sent a photo of himself taken in a dark room, specifying that he only went out occasionally. “When I have to go out, I keep my head down, for sure. I just have to try to normalize the situation to some extent. Being able to get enough sunlight or exercise, for example. Because that this is the first month. In a way, the attack on me has been going on for eight years. I wouldn't be able to escape them if it continues for months and months.”
According to our Australian colleagues, the former imposing figure of Australian rugby left Ireland without being arrested by crossing the border with Northern Ireland, an hour by car from Dublin. The man previously lived in the Irish capital and worked as a rugby coach at the Catholic University School on Leeson Street.
International fugitive
Rocky Elsom denounces a cabal and accuses the French justice system of not having kept him informed of the trial, thus preventing him from defending himself against accusations that he refutes. A line of defense that Me Tabet, the RCNM lawyer after Elsom's departure, did not appreciate: “I successively filed, in the summer of 2016, various complaints against Elsom and against certain players. The investigation was relatively long, many people were heard, the club accountant, the RCNM auditor, players, lots of investigations were carried out and they brought together all the accounting documents justifying the sum of 675,000 euros mentioned. Today, he speaks of perversion of justice: from the start, the Narbonne police station and the judge. investigating officers sent him lots of summons for him to come and explain himself. His lawyer at the time was informed, the investigating judge took steps to bring him in, he never came. In June 2023, the investigating judge therefore issued a first arrest warrant. The latter did not succeed, and the investigation was closed, and therefore passed to the Criminal Court. was set for October 11 by the prosecution and the summons were sent months ago. Rocky Elsom says the court date was hastily set because he had given an interview to Times in which he explained that he lived in Ireland, but it's fictitious.”
The article from Sydney Morning Herald indicates that the address mentioned in the court judgment as his home is actually that of a storage company based in Sydney, where the man used to send parcels. According to him, this company would not have forwarded the mail.
The former Wallabies captain finally explains his choice to flee Ireland: “If I'm in custody, my defense becomes much more expensive and much more difficult. If I'm detained, I have to hire a lawyer to do everything for me: all the phone conversations, finding documents, talking to people, trying to defend myself…”. He appeals to the government of his country to help him get out of this situation: “If an Australian citizen is unlikely to receive a fair trial in a foreign country, I think the government at least has an obligation to consider the issue.” Despite his deep disagreement and his feeling of injustice, Rocky Elsom is today considered an international fugitive. Until when?
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