Players not off the hook over 'gang rape'
Marissa Calligeros | March 2, 2009 - 11:47AM
Police have denied a group of Sydney rugby league players will not face charges following gang rape allegations on the Sunshine Coast at the weekend.
The Balmain Tigers' New South Wales Cup team was allowed to return to Sydney following questioning over the alleged attack on a 23-year-old Sunshine Coast woman, who said she was violently raped by up to six players at the Rydges Oasis Resort at Caloundra early on Sunday morning.
Despite claims by NRL chief David Gallop that the players were unlikely to face police charges, Maroochydoore Superintendent Ben Hanbidge said an investigation was "in full swing", with many witnesses yet to be questioned.
"I don't know where that comment (from David Gallop) has come from," Superintendent Hanbidge told reporters at a press conference this morning.
"This investigation is still in full swing as far as I'm concerned.
"A brief of evidence will be prepared prior to any determination as to the outcome of the investigation."
The 23-year-old woman complained that she had been held down and repeatedly raped by six members of the Tigers side at the hotel. It is believed she had been socialising with the team following a Brisbane Broncos curtain raiser at Stockland Park on Saturday.
The Nine Network aired pictures of a woman with bruising to her neck.
Police have refused to discuss the allegations or how many players may have been involved.
However, Superintendent Hanbidge said the club had cooperated fully with the investigation and players had provided DNA samples before being allowed to return to New South Wales.
Mr Gallop was quoted in media reports that, based on the advice of the club, police would not be pursuing the matter.
