England rugby star Billy Vunipola arrested and 'tasered' after incident in Majorca pub
GERARD COUZENS
England rugby international Billy Vunipola has been arrested after an alleged violent incident at a pub in Majorca.
The 31-year-old had to be tasered twice after police rushed to a bar called Epic in the island capital Palma following calls from security staff.
Local reports said the sportsman, who was born in Australia to Tongan parents and moved to the UK with his family as a young child, had taken off his shirt and was allegedly threatening customers and employees with bottles and chairs.
The 6ft 2in tall professional, who weighs nearly 20 stone, is said to have been unaffected by the first taser volt police used on him after clearing the bar, so they could try to resolve the situation.
They overpowered him and handcuffed him after using a taser for the second time.
Vunipola, a rugby-union Number eight for Saracens in Premiership Rugby, was taken to nearby Son Espases Hospital after being held where he had to be sedated and bound to his bed.
Until the medication took effect, several security guards and police officers had to watch over him.
He was taken to courton Sunday, wearing the same blue T-shirt and beige shorts he was arrested in, following the early hours incident.
His whereabouts on Monday was unclear, but he is understood to have been released on bail pending an ongoing investigation.
Police and court officials have not yet made any official comment. The bar was closed early this morning.
The rugby player spent his childhood in Wales and the south-west of England after emigrating to the UK.
He won a scholarship to attend the prestigious Harrow School and whilst there, was picked by Wasps Academy, where he made his senior debut aged 18.
He featured 30 times in two seasons before signing for current club Saracens.
He made his debut for England on the 2013 Summer Tour of Argentina. He has since amassed nearly 80 caps.
His father and uncle both played for Tonga. His cousin Taupe Faletau has been capped by Wales and British and Irish Lions.
A spokesman for the National Police in Majorca, in their first formal comment on the arrest, said: “In the early hours of yesterday morning, at 4.30am, we arrested a 31-year-old foreign man on suspicion of a crime of disobedience and assaulting a police officer.
“The events took place in a leisure establishment on the seafront in Palma, when a man was causing altercations inside the establishment.
“The man would not listen to reason and confronted the rest of the customers, and the security staff were unable to restrain him or remove him from the premises.
“The police were alerted and the officers, on seeing the man, who was shirtless and making gestures with his hands, cleared the premises. It was then that he confronted the police and attempted to assault the officers.
“The police officers tried at all times to get him to calm down, but the man would not listen to reason. At that moment, the man pushed and slapped an officer and a policeman pulled out his electric stun gun and fired a first time, although the gun didn’t discharge.
“A second projectile was then fired, which did the job, and it was then that the officers jumped on him and proceeded to immobilise him by shackling him, later taking him to Son Espases hospital for assessment and arrest.
“Yesterday afternoon he was taken to court and released on bail pending an ongoing investigation."