Bolts and Tools cleared over incident

Charges of unruly behaviour, illegal gouging and manslaughter against several Brisbane Bolts and Townsville Tools players have been dismissed by the JDG’s judiciary committee following an on-field brawl last weekend which claimed the lives of one player and two cheerleaders.
At a meeting in Sydney, the judiciary committee decided no player would face charges following the incident which erupted in the closing stanza of the deca-finals decider at Townsville’s Ansell Condoms Stadium.
JDG national president, Sir Edward Llewellyn, said: “We hope this is the end of the matter and that criticism of the JDG’s disciplinary processes will now cease.
“The JDG recognises that some people may not agree with this decision. But, I have always operated on the basis that justice must not only be done, it must seem to be done.
“I am confident that we have achieved that in this case.”
Last weekend’s brawl began when a full-team grapple just outside the 30-metre cross-box collapsed. Videotape of the incident shows Bolts forward gouger, Ronny “Fire Hose” McCullouch, using his fratting lance to stab Tools stand-in half-grasper, Darryl “Carpet Snake” Mullins, in the chest.
While Mullins died instantly, the all-in brawl which followed took 28 minutes to travel around the perimeter of the ground and into the car park before returning to the left-quadrant killing field and ending in the Tools’ cheerleaders dugout.
Bolts coach, Jack Saunders, dismissed criticism of the incident.
“It’s just a bit of hi-jinks – just some good natured horseplay,” Saunders said.
However, families of the cheerleaders – Justine Cox, 17 who was making her first on-field appearance as a Tools cheerleader, and Cheryl Baxter 18, a Tools cheerleader for two years – have criticised the JDG’s handling of the incident and what they claim is its unwillingness to launch a full investigation.
In a tragic co-incidence, the lawyer acting for the families, Colin Stanley, was killed last night when his own car apparently reversed over him in a neighbour’s driveway.
Mr Stanley had issued a statement yesterday afternoon saying: “The JDG has still not explained several worrying aspects of this incident.
“For example, the JDG initially denied to my clients that their daughters had been hurt let alone killed in the incident.
“It was only the following day when a Tools fan unwittingly uncovered the two shallow graves on the sideline that the facts came to light.
“The JDG is giving every indication that it is prepared to ignore very serious allegations about this incident in the hope of protecting its commercial interests.”
Sir Edward denied the claim, saying the JDG would not revisit the incident.
“In any event, police have not yet formally dismissed suggestions that the two Tools cheerleaders were killed before the on-field brawl started,” he said.
A police spokesman confirmed Sir Edward’s claim.
“That line of investigation is still being actively pursued,” the spokesman said.