Rugby assault case dropped

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 251, 19 July 1988, Page 1

Rugby assault case dropped

The Northern Wanganui Rugby Sub Union have decided not to take the case of a Huia player who was banned from the game any further.

The player, B e n Kopua, was banned for eight weeks from the game for punching a Waiouru player during a game earlier in the season. Some Sub Union Committee members

were dissatisfied with the decision of the Sub Union's judicial committee to suspend the player for only eight weeks, but last week decided to drop the matter. Sub Union President

Robert Cleaver told the Bulletin the union would be "skating on thin ice" to do so. "We have to carry the can a bit," said Mr Cleaver. He said the sub union had not presented their case to the judicial committee properly and that the committee had tried him on the evidence they were given.

Ben Kopua was tried in the District Court for assault and convicted. The Waiouru player he assaulted was hurt seriously and spent some time in hospital. Mr Cleaver said the episode had been a learning experience. He said it had been stressed by a number of Sub Union committee members at last week's meeting that violence

on the football field was a serious matter and that strong prosecution cases must be mounted when it happens. "We must get our facts together," said Mr Cleaver. Asked if it was true that Ben Kopua was now playing Rugby League, Mr Cleaver said he had heard that but could not confirm it.