Three former rugby players have failed in an attempt to appeal their convictions for raping a student in 2017 in a verdict handed down overnight by a French court.
The court sentenced Denis Coulson, a former Ireland under-20 international from Dublin, to 14 years in prison, Frenchman Loïck Jammes to 14 years, and New Zealander Rory Grice to 12 years, confirming the same penalties handed down at their original trial.
“You are sentenced to the same terms given the seriousness of the offences and the lack of any significant change compared to the previous ruling,” presiding judge Marie-Dominique Boulard-Paolini said.
There were emotional scenes in the court in Angoulême in southwestern France among the family of the victim and the families of the convicted men as the verdict was announced shortly after 2am local time.
Coulson’s lawyer Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt told journalists the three men would appeal to France’s Court of Cassation, their final legal recourse.
Their original trial heard the former players for FC Grenoble had met the then 20-year-old student in a bar in the city of Bordeaux where they had travelled to play a match in March 2017, and raped her in their hotel while she was in a blackout state.
At the original trial, Co Fermanagh-born Chris Farrell was given a four-year sentence, with two years suspended, after being convicted of failing to prevent a crime. Dylan Hayes, from New Zealand, was given a two-year suspended sentence after being found guilty of failing to prevent a crime. Hayes and Farrell did not appeal.
The appeal by Coulson, Jammes and Grice reheard much of the case over the past two weeks including testimony from multiple witnesses, from Coulson and from the victim herself who was present in court through the hearings.
It was held behind closed doors at her request, with her lawyers saying she could not face a public trial.
Lawyers for the rugby players, who had been hopeful of securing reduced sentences, presented their closing arguments on Friday afternoon before the jury retired to deliberate.
Lawyer for the victim Grégoire Mouly said it was important to her “to hear from the justice system that her version of events is what happened in reality”.
“As long as they are convicted and our client is recognised as a victim, that’s what matters to her. She’s always said so,” Mouly told journalists. “The sentences of the accused are of no importance to her.”
Before the verdict, the senior prosecutor or advocate general recommended to the jury that Coulson and Jammes be sentenced to 14 years and Grice’s sentence be increased to 14 years from 12.
The recommendation of the senior prosecutor carries weight, though juries are free to deviate from it.
Coulson had apologised to the victim in court and said he had not realised she wasn’t consenting because he was drunk, according to his lawyers. In the initial trial, they had argued the victim had consented.
All players for FC Grenoble, the men were staying at a hotel on the outskirts of the French city of Bordeaux where they had travelled for a Top 14 championship match against local side Bordeaux Bègles.
After their side lost the match, the five went out to a bar in the town where they met a group of students from Sciences Po university, including the victim and her friends.
The trial was shown CCTV of Coulson propping up the unsteady victim as they arrived back at the hotel in a taxi. She would later tell police that she had no memory of travelling back to the hotel or what happened there.
A video played to the court showed her being penetrated with various objects. Her lawyers told the court that she had emerged from a blackout state due to the pain of being penetrated with a metal object, then fled the room and collapsed in front of the hotel receptionist. She filed a police report that morning.
A toxicology report showed that the victim’s alcohol level was in the danger zone for alcohol poisoning.
During the appeal process, numerous witnesses testified including other players and the Irish former rugby player Bernard Jackman, who was FC Grenoble coach at the time.
Jackman appeared by video-link from Dublin and was asked why the team was staying at the hotel in Bordeaux, where they had travelled to play a Top-14 match against local side Bordeaux Bègles.