Case Number:

ON/1446/22

Declan Patton #6, Bradford

Competition:

Championship

Match:

Bradford Bulls v Halifax Panthers

Match Date:

2022-07-30

Incident:

Gouging

Decision:

Charge

Charge Detail:

Law 15.1 (i)

Gouging

Grade E

Fine:

£250

Sanctions:

4-8

Decision On Charge

Player plea:

Guilty

Summary of CM's submissions on the Charge / evidence:

Guilty

Following a Match Review Panel meeting held on 4 August 2022, you are charged with misconduct for a breach of Law 15.1(i) Gouging during the above match.

The Panel reviewed an incident which occurred at 01:01:38 SharePoint time of the above match. In the Panel’s opinion you became involved in an incident and gouged an opponent during a match. The Panel believe that your actions were unnecessary, against the spirit of the game and had the potential to injure your opponent.

In accordance with the RFL’s On Field Sentencing Guidelines, the Panel consider that such offence is a Grade E offence in breach of Law 15.1(i) – Gouging

The normal suspension range for such offence is 4 to 8 matches.

• Match Review Panel reviewed an incident which occurred in the Championship match between Bradford and Halifax.
• Following a high tackle, a melee ensues.
• The opponent comes into the melee and throws an arm into the melee.
• A number of Mr Patton’s team mates pull the opponent out of the melee and begin remonstrating with him.
• Mr Patton comes in around the back of the opponent and grabs a hold of the opponents head.
• The players left hand then slides up towards the top of the nose and eye area of the opponent.
• Mr Patton can be then seen to take a grip of the opponent’s with his fingers being pressed into the eye area of the opponent.
• After a brief hold, Mr Patton then releases the grip and then the melee begins to break apart.
• The MRP suggest that Mr Patton’s act was one of an intentional nature.
• Mr Patton’s actions were against the spirit of the game.
• The player was not involved in the initial incident and had no reason to get involved.
• This act had the potential for serious injury.

Summary of Player's submissions on the Charge / evidence:

Player in attendance alongside Jason Hirst (CEO). Player pleads guilty to the charge.

DP talked through the incident. He explained he didn’t realise he had made contact with the opponent in that way and he certainly had no intent to gouge him. Any contact was not intentional, and this kind of behaviour is certainly not what he is about.

JH explained that this incident has been taking seriously at the club. He felt that DP had got involved in the melee as he was trying to protect a teammate. Whilst they accept the charge the club believe this was reckless and certainly not malicious. He added that DP had a good previous disciplinary record.

Decision:

Guilty plea

Decision On Sanction (where found to have committed Misconduct)

Summary of CM's submissions on the appropriate sanction:

• Grade E due to:
- Lowest possible entry point for a gouge within the Sentencing Guidelines.
- Acts bring the game into disrepute.
- Potential for serious injury.

Aggravating Factors:

05/03/18 – High Tackle (Grade D – 5 matches)

Reasons for Decision:

The Tribunal reviewed an incident in which the player became involved in gouging an opponent during the match. This is a Grade E offence carrying a range of between 4-8 matches suspension.

Given the serious nature of the matter, the panel had no option but to refer this incident to the tribunal for determination.

The Tribunal were able to view the footage and despite representations by the player to the contrary we felt that this was intentional eye gouging.

The player involved himself in the incident for no apparent reason and there was clear potential for serious injury to have occurred. The RFL indicated this was a fleeting incident with the players finger not lodged or locked onto the eye of the opposing player and the player had a very limited record for a single dissimilar matter.

Given that this was a guilty plea and that the player had a limited record, the Tribunal felt that this was a serious incident and the opponent was lucky that no injury was suffered.

In the circumstances the Tribunal felt that the player had to be suspended for 7-matches with a fine of £250.

Suspension:

7 matches