Mark Souster
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The four players at the centre of rape allegations on England’s tour to New Zealand are expected to be interviewed again by the RFU next week, The Times understands, after the woman involved in the alleged assault in Auckland insisted yesterday that she had been the victim of sexual violation despite deciding against making a formal complaint to police.
The players had been spoken to as part of the union’s internal investigation by Judge Jeff Blackett, the disciplinary officer, to whom all had again protested their innocence. His findings were expected to be published yesterday but were put on hold when, in a surprise move, solicitors acting for the 18-year-old woman released to the media a two-page letter containing her side of the story.
The contents put a more serious complexion on Blackett’s deliberations. In the letter addressed to the judge, the woman said that she was not going to make a formal complaint to police only because to do so would “generate extensive and invasive news media, threaten her privacy and personal life, and compound the impact on her of the June 15 sexual violations”. Chapman Tripp, her solicitors in Auckland, said that no one in England had attempted to contact them or the police for their input into the inquiry. She wanted to correct misinformation that may be “recycled” in the course of Blackett’s investigation.
In the letter, the woman moved to clarify details of the alleged assault at the England team hotel on Auckland’s waterfront. Jack Hodder, a partner with Chapman Tripp, said that she had been the victim of “sexual violation” by four squad members after she had been invited back to the Hilton Hotel by one player initially. She went to hospital for treatment, Hodder claimed. He added: “The violations caused injuries such that the medical professionals treating her referred her to the police.”
She was not a lap dancer, nor was there any truth in speculation that she knew the woman known as Angel Barbie, who sold her story to the newspapers about the night she spent with David Strettle, the Harlequins wing. She insisted that her dealings with doctors and the police had not been prompted by a boyfriend.
The woman had not had, nor wished to have, any communication with the news media and wanted to protect her privacy, Hodder said. In the circumstances and for the reasons outlined, she did wish to deal directly with Blackett’s inquiry, but Hodder said that should the RFU require clarification on specific points, he would “seek instructions”. To avoid misunderstanding, Hodder said that the letter was “the first and final statement” of the victim’s position and designed to counter the misinformation.
Glenda Hughes, a communications executive acting for the woman, told TV3, a New Zealand television channel, that she did not want to put herself in the media spotlight by going through a trial. “Her sense is that she’s had a pretty awful experience and the quickest way to move on is not to extend that experience,” Hughes said.
Hughes added that, according to the information she had, the injuries the woman suffered were consistent with a sexual attack. “They were definitely indicative of non-consensual sex,” she said. “She went back with one member of the rugby team and then I think it got out of control.”
At the time the allegations came to light, the England management said that the four players denied allegations of rape and sexual assault and had the support of the rest of the team. British media reports, quoting an England rugby source, claimed that the woman had consensual sex with one player in his room before being joined by another squad member, with whom she also had consensual sex. The reports said that some of the sex was witnessed by two other players.
The RFU confirmed receipt yesterday of the letter and said that Blackett would consider its contents as part of his investigation.
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