Brennan banned for life, fined

Rugby news:An independent disciplinary committee appointed by the ERC have imposed a life ban on the Toulouse forward Trevor Brennan.

In an extraordinarily punitive decision, they also decreed that the 13-time capped Irishman could never have an involvement in any competition run by the ERC, fined him €25,000 and ordered him to pay both the costs of the hearing and €5,000 to the Ulster supporter Brennan struck during the Toulouse-Ulster Heineken European Cup match at Stade Ernest Wallon on January 21st.

An ERC statement said the disciplinary committee, chaired by HHJ Jeff Blackett (England) who was joined by Rod McKenzie (Scotland) and Achille Reali (Italy), met in London yesterday, "having heard testimony from a number of witnesses and reviewed documentary evidence, found Mr Brennan guilty of misconduct under the Heineken Cup disciplinary rules in that he entered one of the seating areas in the stadium and repeatedly struck an Ulster spectator, namely Mr Patrick Bamford.

"It was the view of the committee that Mr Brennan's behaviour was completely unjustified and that he caused serious harm to an innocent spectator and significant damage to the image of rugby union. The committee could not envisage more serious misconduct in relation to spectators, and believed that the maximum permissible suspension was appropriate.

"The committee therefore imposed on Mr Brennan a lifetime suspension from playing rugby union and also imposed a lifetime ban on Mr Brennan from participating in any capacity in tournaments organised by ERC. Mr Brennan was also fined €25,000 and was ordered to pay €5,000 compensation to Mr Bamford and the costs of convening the hearing."

As with previous preliminary hearings, Brennan and his legal advisors, who had again requested that the hearing be deferred pending both civil and criminal proceedings in France on the grounds that it affected his right to silence, did not attend the hearing. They were last night considering whether to appeal within 72 hours of receiving the full written decision from the committee chairman, and declined to comment.

The 33-year-old, twice a European Cup winner who was in his fifth season with Toulouse, had pre-empted the hearing by announcing his retirement earlier this week.

The acute interest in this case by the International Rugby Board was also striking, bearing in mind that the board's chairman, Ireland's Syd Millar, had written to the French Federation asking that they suspend Brennan until the ERC hearing.

It is one of the most punitive punishments handed down in the history of the game, and far exceeds, for example, the nine-month ban imposed on Eric Cantona for his Kung-Fu-style retaliation to provocation from a supporter of a rival club.

Brennan had claimed he was provoked by comments relating to his mother, which Bamford has denied making.

By extending the ban to beyond his playing career, if only in ERC-run tournaments, the punishment seems almost personalised, while the decision that Brennan compensate the Ulster supporter concerned, Patrick Bamford, appears almost to exceed the committee's remit.

Paul Tweed, a solicitor acting for Mr Bamford, said his client was satisfied with the result. He could not confirm if the Ulster fan would continue taking legal action against the player, but stressed they were pursuing defamation action against a number of media organisations.

"Our client was happy to let the European board adjourn on the matter and he was satisfied with the outcome," said Tweed. "He is still taking action against a number of newspapers and we will be tackling those defamation actions aggressively."