Appeals Court Upholds Gang-Rape Convictions of Ex-Grenoble Rugby Players With Sentences Up to 14 Years

Overview

• An appellate jury in Angoulême, which delivered its decision early Saturday, confirmed the 2024 verdicts that gave Denis Coulson and Loïck Jammes 14 years in prison and Rory Grice 12.
• The hearing ran behind closed doors before the Charente Assize Court, and the presiding judge said the panel weighed the gravity of the acts and found no change from the first ruling.
• The public prosecutor had asked for 14-year terms for all three men, and the charge of gang rape under French law can draw up to 20 years in prison.
• The defense said the penalties were excessive and announced immediate appeals to the Court of Cassation, which reviews legal errors rather than the facts of a case.
• The case traces back to March 12, 2017 in Mérignac after a Top 14 match, with the student saying she woke naked with a crutch inserted as the accused have long claimed consent and cited a video, and two teammates earlier received lighter, unappealed sentences for not intervening.