“He asked her for forgiveness”: Accused of gang rape, rugby player Denis Coulson apologized to his victim during the trial

Irishman Denis Coulson, one of the former Grenoble rugby players who has been on trial for ten days behind closed doors in Bordeaux for a gang rape in March 2017, apologized to the victim on Wednesday, December 11, according to his lawyer.

“He asked her for forgiveness […] and he asked his teammates for forgiveness because he feels responsible since he was the one who led this young girl into the bedroom”, said Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt.

“At the same time, Mr. Coulson does not really question himself”, replied Anne Cadiot-Feidt, the victim's lawyer, for whom he apologizes “in relation to him”, “a little bit like for children”.

The former pillar, now 30, is being prosecuted for gang rape with New Zealander Rory Grice, 34, and Frenchman Loïck Jammes, 30.

All plead the consent of the victim with whom they had spent a Top 14 post-match in a bar and then in a nightclub, the alcohol flowing waves, before ending the night in a hotel near Bordeaux. The young woman had come to her senses the next day, naked on a bed with a crutch in her vagina, surrounded by two naked men and others who were dressed.

A difficult reconstruction of the facts according to the defense

“It is extremely difficult to reconstruct facts more than seven years later”, continued Me Dreyfus-Schmidt after the questioning of his client. “There are only testimonies that overlap and we try to cling to the few material elements that we have”.

“He is 21 years old at the time of the events, he is drunk, there is a kind of sexual euphoria in this room and at that moment, he sincerely thinks, as she is capable of action, that she agrees”, added the lawyer. The hearing continued on Wednesday with the questioning of Loïck Jammes.

His defense requested, in vain, a new forensic examination after a coroner appointed to replace the doctor who had carried out the original analyses, unavailable for health reasons, had “invalidated” his colleague's work in court, according to Me Denis Dreyfus.

“On the forensic level, we can't prove anything. It is likely, in a case that is strewn with multiple question marks, to bring an additional one”, Jammes' lawyer said to the press. Irishman Chris Farrell (31 years old) and New Zealander Dylan Hayes (40 years old) are appearing for having witnessed all or part of the alleged rape without intervening.