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May 29, 2009 Posted by Graham Jenkins on 05/29/2009 Canadian player guilty of manslaughter over spear tackle This alarming headline in the New Zealand Heraldcaught my eye this morning. The full story reveals that a high school rugby player in Canada has been found guilty of manslaughter over a 'spear' tackle. The teenager, who is now 18 and cannot be named under Canada's youth laws, was playing in a game in the Ontario in 2007 when, the prosecution said, he lifted rival player Manny Castillo into the air, his feet facing upwards, and drove him head first into the ground. Castillo died from a serious head injury a few days after the incident, the Toronto Star reported. The accused claimed he reacted to get out of a headlock applied by Castillo. He also said Castillo was pushed, not dumped, onto the ground, the Star said. But the prosecution said it was an unlawful assault outside the rules of the game and Justice Bruce Duncan rejected self-defence and ruled the accused cause the death of Castillo. "The defendant intentionally applied force that was outside the rules of the game or any standard by which the game is played," the judge said. This sounds like a difficult one for the judicial system although there is no doubt such an assault - outside the laws of the game - should be punished under the law of the land. There have been cases in the UK - like this one where acts of unacceptable violence on the rugby field have led to legal proceedings. Should rugby players be held liable for injuries they cause to others?
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