It’s a repercussion. For the first time in the history of French rugby, players still active have just been sentenced this Friday afternoon, by the Gironde Assize Court (in Bordeaux), to prison sentences after a trial of two weeks for gang rape of a young woman aged 20 at the time of the events. Sentences that follow the requisitions of the attorney general.
In detail, the Frenchman Loïck Jammes, hooker of Provence Rugby, received 14 years in prison. A similar sentence was handed down against the Irishman Denis Coulson (retired), the first actor in the sordid evening. New Zealander Rory Grice (Oyonnax Rugby player) is sentenced to 12 years in prison. They will all sleep in prison this Friday evening, seven years and 9 months after the events.
Following the announcement of the verdict, their counsel immediately announced that they would appeal. Whatever happens, they will have to apply for release pending a new trial.
The two accused of failure to prevent a crime, the Irishman Christopher Farrell (Oyonnax Rugby player) and the New Zealander Dylan Haye (without a club) were found guilty. They were respectively sentenced to 4-year prison sentences, two of which were suspended with house arrest for the first and two years suspended for the second.
Thursday afternoon, Attorney General Philippe Vique requested sentences ranging from 12 to 14 years in prison for the three players accused of gang rape, namely the New Zealander Rory Grice, the Irishman Denis Coulson and the Frenchman Loïck Jammes. He also pointed out the essential role of the two defendants for failure to prevent the crime: the Irishman Christopher Farrell and the New Zealander Dylan Hayes, against whom Philippe Vique demanded 4 years and 1 year in prison.
