Women’s rugby league captain cleared of racially aggravated assault after row over ‘taking the knee’
A WOMEN’S rugby league captain has been cleared of punching a teammate eight times in the face and calling her the N-word.
Bryonie King, 18, was accused of leaving friend Jasmine Rampton in a “crumpled heap” on the floor in a row over taking the knee before a match.
Both teenagers were students at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire, where top international rugby stars Jonny May, Ellis Genge and Louis Rees-Zammit studied.
Miss Rampton, 18, had alleged that Miss King used racist language after she challenged her for not taking the knee before a game.
She claimed the pair initially met up to "iron everything out" in March 2021 after debating the situation for several hours in the days before.
Miss Rampton, who supports the Black Lives Matter movement, said she was upset when she heard Miss King failed to take the knee with the other starting players.
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But Miss King claimed she had done nothing wrong when they discussed it. She said the gesture had gone on for too long and was "misguided", Gloucester Crown Court heard.
As the conversation became more heated - leaving Miss Rampton "very emotional" - Miss King told her to "go and cry a river", it was claimed.
The complainant told the court: "I went to move her arm so I could grab the door handle.
"I used just enough force to move her wrist. She then punched me in the face and she told me that if I touched her again she would do more than hit me.
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"I fell to the floor and she continued punching me in the face, I believe seven or eight times. I pulled my arms into my face to protect myself. She called me all sorts of racial names including the N-word."
A witness allegedly heard Miss King say: "Touch me again, I will do something much worse." She then hurled racist abuse, it was alleged.
But Miss King, who was 17 at the time of the incident, said she acted in self defence after being confronted by Miss Rampton.
She said: "I was asked why I hadn't taken the knee and I reiterated that all lives matter. She told me I should educate myself.
"She began to raise her voice and became angry with me.
"I feel that taking the knee has gone on for too long but people were still doing it for their own reasons.
"It appears that Miss Rampton did not agree with this. Things came to a stalemate when she swore at me to leave her room.
"I then began making my own way back to my room and as I reached the door I got pushed from behind by Miss Rampton.
"It was a hard shove. I stumbled and, in the process, I threw out my arm. At the time I wasn't aware that I had struck Miss Rampton in the face."
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Miss King, of Mountain Ash, South Wales, accepted making physical contact with her friend, but denied doing it intentionally or using any derogatory words.
Jurors took 45 minutes to find her not guilty of racially aggravated assault by beating.