England rugby players in more hot water after hotel worker claims she was ... - Mirror.co.uk
Annabel Newton
A young hotel worker was lured to a bedroom by three England rugby stars where she was teased with lewd sexual comments.
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In the latest embarrassing incident to hit the England World Cup team, gap-year student Annabel Newton said she was humiliated.
Annabel, 23, said she was called into the room at the team hotel to get her walkie-talkie, which had been pinched. There she found James Haskell, Dylan Hartley, and yesterday's try-scoring hero Chris Ashton.
She says while one player filmed her on a video camera, Haskell shouted he wanted an "Aussie kiss". When she asked what that was he said it was a "blow job Down Under".
"I was a joke to them," said Annabel. "Afterwards they couldn't understand what they did wrong. Those players treated me with no respect."
The players emphatically deny any wrong-doing, and insist she appeared relaxed in their company. Sources close to the three say in the video – part of a tour diary – she doesn't look concerned.
"At the time the three thought it was light-hearted banter but when they found out how Annabel felt about it they agreed to apologise," said a source.
Another source said: "Haskell's behaviour was juvenile. He organised taking her walkie-talkie and getting her up to his room. He was the ringleader – responsible for the silly taunting."
But Annabel says she went along with the banter because she was embarrassed. She reported the incident tearfully to hotel management and says England boss Martin Johnson offered to get the three to say sorry.
But when she met the three later she was unhappy and felt it was a "half-hearted" apology. Her lawyer entered into talks with England's legal team.
The incident, two days before Zara Phillips' husband Mike Tindall was caught on CCTV kissing and hugging a blonde during a drunken night out, is another blow to the reputation of England, who beat Scotland to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals yesterday.
But Annabel's account of the incident on September 9 again calls into question players' behaviour off the pitch.
She was a "conference attendant", helping to look after the team, making sure they had all their meals and dealt with any specific requests. She says the players regularly joked with her about her walkie-talkie, stealing it and radioing in that they had taken her hostage.
But around 4pm, Annabel said, she bumped into the players in the hotel lift as she returned a trolley of dishes.
The team had returned from training but when Annabel headed back to the fourth floor she realised her walkie- talkie was missing from the trolley.
Annabel said: "Some players said, 'Have you lost something, love?' The next minute, the duty manager contacted a colleague to say some players had my walkie-talkie.
"On my colleague's radio I could hear guys laughing and giggling."
Annabel said she was "embarrassed" because the players were making crude sexual remarks over the airwaves.
She saw Lewis Moody got hold of another walkie-talkie to tell the players to give her device back, before directing Annabel to room 510. Annabel went to the room where 6ft 4in Haskell was staying, knocked on the door, and heard whispering.
She said: "Someone said, 'I don't have the radio, I'm about to have a shower.' I said, 'Open up, I know you have it.'
"Dylan opened the door, just wearing just a towel. He said there's no one else here, come in and look for it."
She then noticed Ashton and Haskell were also in the room. "I'm just 5ft 1in tall, and these guys towered over me. They were the tallest guys I have ever seen."
Annabel said she told the players she had to leave the room as she had work to do.
She said: "I remember saying, 'Please, give me the radio, I have to get snacks and let the kitchen know what food to prepare.' She said the players gave the impression it was all a joke and just hi-jinks on their part, and one of the players got a video camera.
She said: "I just remember James's stupid grin. He thought it was hilarious. Dylan was on the bed.
"Then they got out a video camera and started to film me. I tried to hide my face, saying I'm working."
But the players continued to film and Annabel said Haskell, 26, shouted out, "I want an Aussie kiss". She said: "When I asked what it was he said it was a blow job Down Under." Hartley had shouted out "stop it" to Haskell at this point.
Keen to get out of the room, Annabel says she found her walkie-talkie hidden in a wardrobe.
"Once I got it I started to leave and one said, 'Say to camera the V Gang is the best.' It was a reference to a car they had bought in Dunedin and filmed themselves in. So I did even though I thought it might be rude."
Annabel left the room after being asked to say "bye" to the camera. She said last night: "I went to see the duty manager. As soon as I saw him, the emotion came out and I cried.
"I told him I was sorry I went into the room. He said you did what you had to do."
Annabel was reassured she had not broken any rules by going into the room and was told the incident would be reported to management.
It happened at the Southern Cross Hotel in Dunedin where the squad was based for three weeks at the start of the World Cup campaign.
The following day Annabel served players their late meal at the hotel from midnight onwards. Although was still very upset by the encounter, she felt she had to go back to work.
She said: "I told my manager I had to leave and got out of there."
Two days later, back at work, Annabel was told the hotel manager had been speaking to England manager Martin Johnson and it had been decided she would be taken away from her duties with the team.
On September 17, Annabel was told the players would make a personal apology. She was taken to her manager's office where she says she was left alone with the three men.
Annabel said: "James told me, 'We got you these pretty flowers – they're not as pretty as you', and then as he leant in to give them to me, he said, 'And they don't smell as good as you, either.'
"I just got a sense they didn't care. I told him, 'I hear you guys got into a bit of trouble.' Then one said, 'The heat's off us because of the Mike Tindall thing.'
"I left after less than five minutes, saying I had to go back to work. I was expecting a formal apology but it was anything but. It was eight days after the incident and not good enough."
Still feeling the apology wasn't enough and concerned the incident could be made public, Annabel contacted a lawyer through a family friend.
Her lawyer, Jenny Beck, then set up a meeting with Martin Johnson and other members of the England management, during which Annabel says it was agreed she would receive a card from the players apologising.
She said: "I was happy with the outcome though. A proper apology would have been enough. It would have been proper 'closure' for me."
But Annabel did not get a card and discussions continued with the RFU.
She said: "Now I'm upset and embarrassed and have to leave my job. There's no way I can carry on at the hotel. I'll get on with my life and complete my degree and become a teacher. They won't stop that.
"England seem to have extra money, – they behaved as though they were on a jolly."
Ms Beck added: "Annabel was extremely upset. It is regrettable that the England players did not make an appropriate apology expeditiously."
The Southern Cross Hotel refused to comment. The RFU also declined to comment.
02 Oct, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEoKyQ4_mauLqg49r17iyoU-nm1yA&url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/most-popular/2011/10/02/england-rugby-players-in-more-hot-water-after-hotel-worker-claims-she-was-victim-of-crude-sexual-banter-115875-23460369/
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