French appeals court confirms prison sentences for 3 ex-Grenoble rugby players for rape

FILE -Rory Grice of New Zealand, right, is tackled by Mun Sang-yong of South Korea during their match on the first day of the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament in Hong Kong March 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Warning: Graphic content.

ANGOULEME, France — Three former Grenoble rugby players serving time for the rape of a 20-year-old student in 2017 have lost an appeal against their convictions and prison sentences.

An appeals court in France on Saturday re-imposed the original sentences of prison terms up to 14 years.

Irishman Denis Coulson and Frenchman Loïck Jammes were sentenced to 14 years in prison, and New Zealand’s Rory Grice to 12 years.

The victim had lodged a complaint in March 2017 following Grenoble’s match in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux. According to French media reports, she said she had met the players during an alcohol-fueled night and was raped in a hotel in the outskirts of Bordeaux.

A court sentenced the men to prison in December 2024, and all three have been in prison since. They claimed that the sexual encounter had been consensual.

“To reach the same decision as in the first instance, the court and the jurors took into account the seriousness of the facts,” said the court presiding judge, Marie-Dominique Boulard-Paoloni, as quoted by L’Equipe newspaper. “We also considered the absence of any notable change compared to the previous decision. You now have ten days to lodge an appeal in cassation.”

Lawyers for the defendants said they would appeal to the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court of the judicial order.

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