Parents ‘obstructed’ rugby assault probe
Police say parents obstructed their inquiry into claims a junior rugby coach abused an opposing player who reportedly kicked one of her players in the mouth.
West Melton Rugby Football Club coach Amanda Tomlinson will appear at a Community Justice Panel hearing regarding the incident.
Tomlinson allegedly grabbed and verbally abused a Lincoln Rugby Club under-14.5 player after he reportedly kicked one of her under14.5 players during a July 8 match.
The player who was allegedly kicked required emergency dental surgery. He is expected to be out of the game for the rest of the season.
Senior Sergeant Pete Stills said the community justice panel was a step down from the district court and ‘‘probably the right place to put the matter’’.
He said police had received a complaint about an incident where one player kicked another, which was being investigated. He had ‘‘some concern’’ with the behaviour of witnesses and parents of witnesses.
‘‘Police have been very disappointed with the degree of obstruction to our inquiry . . . by players, and by parents of players, some who are in the coaching area of the sport, who have refused to co-operate with our inquiry. It’s a sad indictment on sport, particularly given we’re talking about youth sport.’’
Tomlinson did not comment on the decision.
The Canterbury Rugby Union is investigating the incident.
West Melton club took no action against Tomlinson, but she voluntarily withdrew her application to coach an Ellesmere rugby sub union representative team later in the year.
Club president Ants Calder previously said Tomlinson had been a coach ‘‘for about seven or eight years and we’ve never had an issue with her’’. She was a ‘‘very skilled and passionate’’ junior coach who had a lot of respect from club parents and players, he said. ‘‘We’ve had players wanting to play in her team, she’s such a good coach.’’
The Lincoln player whom Tomlinson allegedly grabbed was uninjured.