Canadian player guilty of manslaughter over spear tackle

Mississauga, Ontario. Picture / Google maps

A high school rugby player in Canada has been found guilty of manslaughter over a spear tackle.

The teen was playing in a game in the Ontario town of Mississauga in 2007 when, the prosecution said, he lifted rival player Manny Castillo into the air, his feet facing upwards, and drove him head first into the ground.

Castillo died from a serious head injury a few days after the incident, the Toronto Star reported.

The accused, who is now 18 and cannot be named under Canada's youth laws, gave evidence in his own defence at the trial, claiming he reacted to get out of a headlock applied by Castillo.

He also said Castillo was pushed, not dumped, onto the ground, the Star said.

But the prosecution said it was an unlawful assault outside the rules of the game.

Justice Bruce Duncan rejected self-defence and ruled the accused cause the death of Castillo. Sentencing will take place on July 6, the Star reported.

"The defendant intentionally applied force that was outside the rules of the game or any standard by which the game is played," the judge said.

Defence lawyers argued Castillo knew he was playing in a physical game and that he accepted the dangers of the contact sport when he entered the field, but the judge rejected that.

- NZ HERALD STAFF