Manu Tuilagi keen to set record straight after assault conviction
Friday 11 September 2015 11:40, UK
England centre Manu Tuilagi feels he was "harshly treated" after an incident which led to his conviction for assaulting two female police officers.
The 24-year-old was suspended until January by England head coach Stuart Lancaster once he was found guilty at Leicester Magistrates court in mid-May of two counts of assaulting a police officer, assault by beating and causing criminal damage.
Tuilagi was ordered to pay £6,205 in fines, compensation, charges and costs as a result of the fracas in the early hours of April 26 that started with an argument with a taxi driver upon leaving a nightclub and continued when police intervened.
However, the Leicester Tigers centre is unhappy with the damage the incident has caused to his reputation and feels people do not have an accurate impression of what transpired.
"My side of the story is not out and this is my side of the story," said Tuilagi at the 'Pacific Warriors' film premiere in central London.
"I always own up to what I've done. I feel with this one that I've owned up to what I've not done. That's why I feel it's important to get my side of the story out.
"I didn't assault any of the police officers. It looks like I have basically beaten up the two police officers, which is not the case.
"In a way, I feel like I've been harshly treated. It's a bit harsh, but life is harsh, you've got to put it behind you. I'm still young, I can still hopefully make a good comeback."
Tuilagi feels he has been punished unfairly after being advised to "own up to what I've not done" and revealed he would have missed the World Cup anyway because of his recurring groin injury.
The England international claims he was trying to hail a taxi when he was grabbed from behind and he reacted, not knowing the person in question was a police officer.
"We started walking down the road trying to get another taxi and that is when the two police officers came along," Tuilagi said.
"They came up to me from behind and I felt someone try to grab my hands so I just pulled my hands away.
"That's it. Basically, that is assault. You can just touch someone and that is assault. Absolutely they touched me first, and I had no idea they were police officers. That's out there and that's why I want to get my side of the story out."
When asked why he had pleaded guilty, Tuilagi replied: "That's a good question. We pleaded guilty because hopefully we wanted to get the case finished and done with.
"That was the plan - to go in, plead guilty and finish the case on that day, which we did. If we'd gone in and not pleaded guilty, we'd have to have adjourned it and that would have been right in the middle of the World Cup.
"It was the plan we went in with, with the lawyer. It was my lawyer. The lawyers said 'this is the plan' so I was like the lawyer knows what he is doing and I go with him because I trust him."
