Former NZ rugby player jailed for 2017 gang rape in France

Three former rugby players from French side Grenoble have been sentenced to 12 to 14 years in prison for the gang rape of a student in 2017.

Irishman Denis Coulson, 30, and Frenchman Loick Jammes, 30, received 14-year sentences, while New Zealander Rory Grice, 34, was sentenced to 12 years.

Former Ireland international Chris Farrell, 31, was handed a four-year sentence, with two years suspended, for failing to prevent the crime, and New Zealander Dylan Hayes, 30, received a two-year suspended sentence for the same charge.

The incident occurred after the Grenoble team stayed at a hotel near Bordeaux following a Top 14 match.

The victim, identified as “V,” reported the crime after waking up in the hotel, naked and injured, with no memory of how she arrived.

She had met the players at a bar and nightclub earlier in the evening, where they drank heavily.

Coulson, Jammes, and Grice admitted to having sexual relations with the student but claimed they were consensual, a defense rejected by the court.