Wallaby fined for 'violence with a weapon'
NEWS: Wallaby player Lopeti Timani was hit with a €10,000 fine on Monday by a court in La Rochelle.
He was fine for “violence with a weapon” during a nightclub fracas in 2019.
The prosecution had called for a six-month suspended prison sentence for Timani, who plays for local club La Rochelle in the Top 14, for his part in the punch-up.
The 29-year-old threw a bottle at two bouncers in the early hours of May 12 last year after he was escorted out of a local nightclub.
One suffered a face wound that forced him to miss at least eight days’ work.
The bouncers, who were charged with organised violence then reportedly retaliated together, without causing Timani any serious injuries.
One was also hit with a smaller fine on Monday, the other acquitted.
Tongan-born Timani, who has played 12 times for Australia, apologised for throwing the bottle at a hearing in June.
“I didn’t want to hurt someone, I threw it over my shoulder without looking,” Timani said, adding he had deliberately not reacted when he was subsequently attacked.
“If I’d fought it would have been the end of my career” at La Rochelle.
Timani was also order to pay damages of €1,000 to one of the bouncers but the sentence will not show on his criminal record.
