French prosecutors seek up to 14 years in jail for rugby players accused of gang rape

French prosecutors on Thursday demanded jail terms of up to 14 years for three rugby players formerly with French side Grenoble, charged with the 2017 gang rape of a student.

Prosecutors requested 14 years behind bars for Irishman Denis Coulson and Frenchman Loick Jammes, and 12 years for New Zealander Rory Grice.

They sought four years in jail for ex-Ireland international Chris Farrell and two years, including one suspended, for New Zealander Dylan Hayes over failure to prevent the alleged rape.

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.

V. filed a complaint with police, saying she had met the players in a bar together with two friends and accompanied them to a nightclub where all of them drank heavily.

The student said she had no recollection of how she got from the club to the hotel where she woke up, naked on a bed and with a crutch inserted in her vagina.

She saw two naked men in the room and others fully dressed.

Coulson, Jammes and Grice stated they had sexual relations with V. but claimed the encounter was consensual and the student had been pro-active in bringing it about.

Farrell, owner of the crutch, was present, as was Hayes.

AFP