Six Huddersfield Giants players arrested on suspicion of rape while on a pre-season training camp have been bailed until March 18 while police continue inquiries into a complaint by a 22-year-old woman.
The players, who have not been identified, were detained and questioned by Northumbria Police about the allegations of rape by the woman in the early hours of Tuesday at or near the hotel near Newcastle, where the Huddersfield squad is based for a three-day team-building and training exercise.
The squad trained as planned yesterday and stayed a final night at the Newcastle Marriott Hotel Gosforth Park, close to artificial pitches at Newcastle racecourse, which the Giants have been using in preparation for the start of their engage Super League campaign against Bradford Bulls at home on February 5.
Those arrested are not suspended and they rejoined their team-mates at training after police questioning, although Huddersfield have begun their own investigation. Richard Thewlis, the club’s managing director, said: “The club appreciate that police have a duty to thoroughly investigate all allegations of this nature. We will assist them in any way requested.
“Police will now gather the facts and reach their conclusions. Any speculation is frivolous and risks damaging the reputation of innocent parties. So the full Giants squad will continue to train in Newcastle.”
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Nathan Brown, the club’s Australian coach, said only that the squad would train as planned before returning to Huddersfield tonight, although there was a tangible sense of disbelief among the players as they went through their routines.
The case is being dealt with by Northumbria Police’s newly established rape investigation team. “A 22-year-old woman has made an allegation of rape following an incident in Gosforth, Newcastle, in the early hours of January 19,” a spokesman said. “Six men have been arrested and are currently helping with inquiries. The investigation is in the very early stages and inquiries are ongoing.”
It is the second time in three years that a pre-season camp involving the Giants has ended in trouble. Several players were involved in an apparent drunken spree in Portugal in 2007, which ended in Ryan Hudson, the former Huddersfield hooker, being arrested. Hudson paid for damage to a car and police decided not to pursue action against him.
This week’s rape allegation has cast a further cloud over a club who are fiercely proud of their family image. Paul Whatuira, Huddersfield’s former New Zealand international, spent 13 days in a secure psychiatric hospital in October after allegedly attacking two strangers in the town. He has since made a full recovery, is back in training and told a New Zealand newspaper how flashbacks to memories of abuse he suffered as a child caused his breakdown.
Huddersfield have augmented their squad with the additions of David Fa’alogo, a New Zealand World Cup winner, and Lee Gilmour, from St Helens.