France prop Mohamed Haouas has been handed a one-year jail sentence after being found guilty of domestic abuse at court on Tuesday.
Haouas was arrested on Friday for hitting his wife after seeing her smoking. The Montpellier front-row revealed she had told him she had stopped.
To appeal the decision
The 29-year-old forward, who has 16 caps for Les Bleus, is set to appeal the jail sentence and will therefore remain free until that process is complete.
“She has the right to smoke but the problem is that she lied to me,” the France international informed the court when speaking about hitting his wife.
“I said to myself that if she can lie about the cigarette, she could lie about other things.”
This is not the first time Haouas has been in trouble with the law as in February 2022, the player was given an 18-month suspended sentence following his involvement in a series of robberies in April 2014.
Been in trouble before
He is also awaiting the verdict of another trial for his role in a brawl a decade ago, with the court’s decision on that case due to be revealed on June 30.
Haouas’ hopes of playing at the Rugby World Cup were already in serious doubt following his on-field ill-discipline during the recent Six Nations.
The prop was sent off for headbutting scrum-half Ben White 12 minutes into his international return, which came three years after he was red carded for punching another Scotland player, flanker Jamie Ritchie, at Murrayfield.
Haouas is set to leave Montpellier at the end of the season after signing a contract with fellow Top 14 side Clermont.
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