England Rugby International Danny Cipriani has been fined a total of £2,000 after an assault that took place in a nightclub on the Island of Jersey (Channel Islands)
In Court, Cirpriani pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest after he assaulted a female police officer and he was subsequently ordered to pay her £250 in compensation.
The Police officer who was assaulted has been named in various reports in the civilian press as former Welsh international footballer Jodie Botterill.
Cirpriani faced three other charges, assault on Police, larceny and being disorderly on licensed premises – but these charges were dropped.
In a tweet, Cipriani said that he was “truly sorry…most importantly (to) the Police” and also said that he was “mortified” by his conduct which led to his arrest.
Cipriani has been given seven days to pay the fine, or he could potentially face ten weeks in prison.
Defence advocate Mike Preston told Jersey Magistrates’ Court that Cipriani was sorry for the “confusing situation” and was “mortified if he harmed the police officer in any way”.
Mr Preston said Cipriani “had too many drinks” at Drift nightclub in The Royal Yacht Hotel, St Helier, and police were called by bemused staff when he tried to grab a body camera off a doorman.
Mr Preston argued in court that his Cipriani did this because ‘fame had made him more sensitive’ to being filmed and he was ‘confused by the situation’.
He was later picked up by police but managed to escape from his cuffs during his arrest, or at least during the Police investigation into what happened (it isn’t known whether he was under arrest at the time of being placed in cuffs) and a second officer was needed to restrain the well-built Cipriani.
It was reported that Cipriani had sworn at the Police Officer, ordering her to get off of him (expletives not known).
The Court was told how the Police Officer was left with bruises on her bicep and red marks on her neck.
Cipriani did not think he had done anything wrong at the time and did not understand why the police had been called, the court was told.
But do you think that the ‘sentence’ handed down to Cipriani was adequate given the circumstances of what happened?
During my time in the Met Police, I saw many of my colleagues getting assaulted during drink-induced fights and my former colleagues and I often felt let down by the judiciary when individuals charged with assault on Police were put before the courts.
Aside from the fact that Cipriani assaulted a Police Officer, the fact that the Police Officer was female, in my own opinion makes the situation even worse as I am incensed whenever I hear about a female being assaulted!
But then should a tougher sentence of been handed down just because of the fact that Cipriani is well known in the public eye?
In response to his player’s guilty plea, Gloucester chief executive Stephen Vaughan commented: “We will deal with it in a robust but balanced way but based purely on the facts.
“As a high-profile sportsperson there is often a large degree of public and media scrutiny involved, which Danny is well aware of.
“The incident in question was over in a matter of seconds and was a reaction to the conduct of other parties involved.
“He knows his responsibilities and is aware of the impact of this type of incident on the club. However, Danny is a Gloucester Rugby player and will receive our full support.”
Let us know what YOU think!
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