Butch James suspended for 4 weeks after guilty plea

Jul 7 • General News, Super Rugby, Super Rugby News • 4487 Views • Comments Off on Butch James suspended for 4 weeks after guilty plea

The SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Jannie Lubbe SC has accepted a guilty plea from Butch James of the Sharks for contravening Law 10.4 (e) Dangerous Tackling, after he was Cited during a Super Rugby Match at the Weekend.

James has been suspended from all forms of the game for four weeks.

The incident occurred in the 72^nd minute of the match between the Bulls and Sharks at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on 6^th July 2013.

SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Jannie Lubbe SC assessed the case.

In his finding, Lubbe ruled the following:

After careful consideration was given to the video evidence of the incident, the citing report, the report of the referee, the previous disciplinary record of the player and his playing commitments in the future. A teleconference was held where his representative Mr Rudolf Straeuli of the Sharks made submissions on behalf of the player. The Sharks team manager: Trevor Barnes was also in attendance on the call. Lubbe determined that the player should be suspended for a period of four (4) weeks from 6 July up to and including 4 August 2013. The sanction was offered to the player who accepted the proposed sanction. The player was accordingly suspended from all rugby from 6 July to 4 August 2013.

All SANZAR disciplinary matters are in the first instance referred to a Duty Judicial Officer hearing to provide the option of expediting the judicial process.

For a matter to be dispensed with at this hearing, the person appearing must plead guilty and accept the penalty offered by the DJO.