St Helens refuse to rule out criminal charges against Wigan’s Ben Flower

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/oct/13/st-helens-police-ben-flower-wigan-lance-hohaia

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St Helens are not ruling out the option of the Wigan prop Ben Flower facing criminal charges for his attack on Lance Hohaia in Saturday’s Super League Grand Final, although they would prefer the matter to be resolved by the disciplinary authorities of the Rugby Football League.

Greater Manchester Police contacted the Saints chief executive, Mike Rush, on Monday after receiving a number of complaints about the incident from members of the public and have deferred a decision on whether to refer it to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Saints will be guided mostly by Hohaia, who was seeing a specialist on Monday night to determine the extent of the damage inflicted by Flower’s fists in the second minute of the match. To complicate matters further the New Zealander was due to go travelling in Europe on Tuesday and was fearing that he may be forced to stay in England because of the injuries.

“Let’s let the RFL do what they’ve got to do first and foremost,” said Rush. “Then we’ll talk about it again on Wednesday. It’s a tough one.”

When interviewed in the Old Trafford dressing room immediately after Saturday’s match Hohaia had appeared to rule out the possibility of pressing charges, saying: “In the heat of the moment people do things they regret … I don’t hold any regrets against Ben.”

Flower, who has played 16 times for Wales and turns 27 next weekend, has been summoned to a disciplinary hearing in Leeds on Tuesday evening on the most serious of the charges available to the match review panel – Grade F, for “violent and aggressive punching” and “punching an off-guard opponent”.

Grade F offences carry a minimum sentence of an eight-match suspension but there is a precedent for heavier bans being handed out. Terry Newton, the late former Great Britain hooker, was initially suspended for 10 matches for two separate incidents in 2005, also playing for Wigan against St Helens, but the ban was extended to seven months when his appeal was rejected.

“We’ll be there to support Ben and help him but not in any way to argue that there was anything reasonable or allowable about his actions,” said the Wigan chairman, Ian Lenagan.

Hohaia was also charged by the match review panel on Monday, with the much less serious Grade B offence of striking Flower with a forearm to provoke his violent reaction. He is expected to take an early guilty plea, restricting his suspension to a single match, which he could serve before the start of the 2015 Super League by missing a pre-season fixture.

Flower’s attack on Hohaia completely overshadowed St Helens’ 14-6 victory over the defending champions at Old Trafford.

“When Lance was knocked out on the floor, to get another punch to the head was probably what the fans and the public didn’t like seeing,” said Rush.