Times article
Elliott Stooke, the Bath lock, has been charged with drink driving after crashing his car on the way home from spending the evening at Jonathan Joseph’s house.
The two Bath players and Gabriel Oghre, the Wasps hooker, were all banned by the RFU on Wednesday for breaking the government’s Covid-19 regulations by socialising indoors with different households.
Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that Stooke, 27, was charged with drink driving after officers were called to a single vehicle collision in the early hours of January 24. He is due to appear at Bath magistrates’ court on February 17.
Bath said in a statement: “There is a police investigation in progress. This has been considered by the club’s disciplinary committee, however at this time we are unable to comment whilst the matter is ongoing.”
Stooke had given Oghre a lift home before the car crash occurred. The incident led to Bath and Wasps being made aware that the three players had socialised together on the evening of January 23, the night after Joseph had been omitted from England’s Six Nations squad.
Joseph and Stooke were banned by Bath for one game — last Friday’s 28-15 defeat by Harlequins — and fined by the club. Stooke was also handed a written formal warning and ordered to undertake 15 hours of community service. Wasps dealt with Oghre and banned him for one game.
The RFU then instigated its own disciplinary procedures. The players were charged with conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game for “off-field infringements of the government’s national Covid-19 rules related to mixing of multiple households, with two players travelling to visit the third”.
An independent panel banned Joseph for one additional game and extended the suspensions for Stooke and Oghre by two weeks. Bath said they reserved the right to appeal the panel’s decision and would consider their position when the full written judgment was published.
Stooke was a regular member of the England training squad before the 2019 World Cup but has not been capped. The lock forward is due to join Wasps at the end of this season.
Elsewhere, a Covid-19 outbreak at Newcastle Falcons has forced the cancellation of their Gallagher Premiership match against Northampton Saints tomorrow. It is the sixth league fixture to be abandoned this season and the third involving Northampton, who are due to be awarded four league points and Newcastle two.
“This is another disappointing cancellation for Northampton Saints, given the side has been really gathering some momentum over the last two weeks and was looking forward to playing again on Saturday,” Mark Darbon, the Saints chief executive, said.
“We were anticipating a great contest with the Falcons, but of course in light of this week’s testing results, this is absolutely the right course of action and we wish everyone affected at Newcastle a quick recovery.”
Topic: Oghre Covid Breach (Read 2802 times)
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