Billy Vunipola has apologised and described the incident which saw him tasered by Spanish police as “an unfortunate misunderstanding”.
The England rugby star was arrested in a bar in Palma, Majorca, on Sunday night after the police were called to deal with him. After the bar was emptied, footage showed him topless and grinning being tasered twice at around 4am.
He was taken to hospital by ambulance and released on conditional bail. Toni Rocha, who owns Epic Bar, told The Mirror that Vunipola was “very drunk”, annoying the other customers and refused to leave or put his top back on when asked. Once the police arrived, he allegedly “hit an officer in the face with the top in his hand”.
The 31-year-old Saracens forward, who has won 75 caps for England, has now given his side of the story. “I can confirm I was involved in an unfortunate misunderstanding when I was leaving a club in Mallorca on Sunday, which got out of hand,” he said in a statement.
“Contrary to media reports, there was no violence, no fight and I did not threaten anybody at any stage, with bottles or chairs or anything else.
“I was charged with resisting the law and, following an 'express trial', I have paid a fine of 240 euros. The Spanish police investigation is now closed, and I am flying back to the UK today. I will obviously cooperate with the Saracens internal process and unreservedly apologise for any inconvenience to all involved.”
Bar owner Mr Rocha said: “It could have turned out very different and ended very badly because we were dealing with a strong man who was very drunk and was acting inappropriately and refusing requests for him to leave. We felt things could have got broken or he could have assaulted someone if we tried to force him out.
“I didn’t feel frightened, it was more a feeling of impotence that we couldn’t get him to abandon the premises. But some clients, especially women clients, were feeling frightened and very uncomfortable. I discovered the friend was also a rugby player, a team-mate of his I think, when the police were talking to him.
“The police were on the scene very quickly and the ambulance arrived later. He was taken away on a stretcher and he was calm by that point."
Vunipola, 31, has played for Saracens since 2013, helping the club win three European Champions Cups and four Premiership titles. He has also been a mainstay for England, winning three Six Nations titles since his debut in 2013.