Five former rugby players from the French team Grenoble have gone on trial in Bordeaux, accused of raping a student in a hotel in 2017 or failing to prevent the assault. The trial, which was initially set for June, was delayed after one of the defendants, Irish national Denis Coulson, was severely injured in a traffic accident.
Coulson, 30, remains in a weakened state but is expected to attend the trial, according to his lawyer, Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt. Coulson, along with New Zealanders Rory Grice (34) and Frenchman Loick Jammes (30), faces charges of gang rape. Irish national Chris Farrell (31) and New Zealander Dylan Hayes (40) are charged with failure to intervene. The court has excluded media from the proceedings at the request of the alleged victim’s legal team.
One of the victim’s lawyers, Gaessy Gros, said that the student, referred to as V, was anxious about confronting her alleged attackers and reliving the traumatic experience.
The alleged assault occurred in the early hours of March 12, 2017, after the Grenoble team’s defeat to Bordeaux-Bègles in a Top 14 match. V, then 20, reported meeting the players at a bar with friends before heading to a nightclub where they drank heavily. V claims she has no memory of how she arrived at the hotel, where she woke up in a bed, naked and with a crutch inserted into her vagina. She reported seeing two naked men in the room, with others fully dressed.
Coulson, Grice, and Jammes admitted to having sexual contact with V but maintained the encounter was consensual. They claimed V had been active in initiating the encounter. Farrell, the owner of the crutch, and Hayes were also present.
Dreyfus-Schmidt, Coulson’s lawyer, argued that V’s behavior suggested consent, stating, “When you go to a nightclub and drink a lot, it’s not to exchange sweet nothings but to have relations with boys.” She added that V had been “very active” and kissed Coulson at the club.
V’s legal team strongly disagreed with this defense. Anne Cadiot-Feidt, one of her lawyers, criticized the players’ actions, calling them “thugs.” Gaessy Gros argued in court that V was in no condition to consent, citing her drunken state and the actions of the men involved in carrying her and staying with her.
The prosecution has pointed to a sex tape filmed by Coulson, along with statements from the accused and witnesses, suggesting multiple instances of sexual acts, including fellatio and object insertion. A toxicology report revealed that V’s blood alcohol level was between 2.2 and 3 grams per liter, a dangerously high level, while CCTV footage showed her struggling to walk into the hotel, supported by one of the players.
Cadiot-Feidt rejected the players’ claims, arguing that while V chose to drink heavily, it did not give the defendants the right to take advantage of her vulnerability. “Nobody can be expected to be perfect all the time,” Cadiot-Feidt said, stressing that the players had a duty to protect V, rather than exploit her weakness.
A toxicology report revealed that the student’s blood alcohol level ranged between 2.2 and 3 grams per liter, a dangerously high level indicative of alcohol poisoning. CCTV footage from the hotel showed her struggling to stand and being supported by one of the players as she arrived.
V’s lawyer, Anne Cadiot-Feidt, dismissed the players’ defense, asserting that while her client’s decision to drink heavily was her own, it did not give the players the right to exploit her. “Nobody can be expected to be perfect all the time,” Cadiot-Feidt stated. “Her choice to drink does not authorize anyone to do what they want with her body.”
Cadiot-Feidt emphasized that the players had a responsibility to “protect” V. “You don’t have to be a superhero, but you could call a taxi, ensuring she wasn’t exploited in her vulnerable state,” she added.
Following the emergence of the allegations, the three main defendants left Grenoble in 2017 and moved on to other clubs.
The world of international rugby has been shaken by similar accusations. The French trial comes shortly before an Argentine judge is expected to decide whether to dismiss charges against two French international rugby players, Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, who are accused of raping a woman after a match in Argentina in July. Both men were detained in Argentina for weeks after the alleged assault.
In a separate case, a Fijian rugby player from the southwestern French club Dax was sentenced last month to a one-year suspended prison term for sexual assault and violence following a drink-fueled incident.
