Irish duo among five defendants as French rape trial begins
Irish rugby player Denis Coulson waits before his trial at the Bordeaux courthouse, in Bordeaux south-western France, on December 2, 2024. (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
Five rugby players formerly with French side Grenoble went on trial on Monday, accused of raping a student in a hotel in 2017, or failing to prevent the alleged sexual assault.
The trial, held in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux, had originally been scheduled for June but was delayed after one of the defendants, Irishman Denis Coulson, was badly injured in a traffic accident.
Coulson was "still weak" but would present at the trial, said his lawyer, Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt.
The former prop, 30, is accused of gang rape, as are New Zealander Rory Grice, 34, and Frenchman Loick Jammes, 30.
Ex-Ireland international Chris Farrell, 31, and New Zealander Dylan Hayes, 30, are charged with failure to prevent a crime.
The presiding judge has excluded media from proceedings, at the request of lawyers for the alleged victim.
In the small hours of March 12, 2017, the student, identified only as V., was in tears as she left a hotel on the outskirts of Bordeaux, where the Grenoble team spent the night after losing a Top 14 encounter against local side Bordeaux-Begles.
The three main defendants left Grenoble in 2017 after the accusations emerged, to pursue their careers at other clubs.
Rape accusations have shaken the world of international rugby recently.
The French trial comes just over a week before an Argentine judge is to decide whether to dismiss charges against two French international rugby players accused of raping a woman after a match in the South American country.
Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, both aged 21, were held for weeks in Argentina after the alleged July assault.
And last month, a Fijian player at the French southwestern club Dax was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison term for sexual assault and violence during a drink-fuelled evening.
AFP
