All that for this. This Friday, the Rennes criminal court rendered its decision in the case of mutual violence between Stade Rennais footballer Baptiste Santamaria and his ex-partner. The midfielder and his ex were found guilty of violence but exempted from punishment. They will have to pay themselves a symbolic euro.
On September 22, the former couple found themselves at the court bar to give their version of the argument which had broken out on October 21, 2022 near their house in Vern-sur-Seiche, near Rennes. In a “word for word” exchange, the two accused explained the violence suffered at the hands of their ex, in front of their son, then 5 years old.
The Stade Rennais midfielder had been summoned to the gendarmerie to explain himself after the call for help made by his partner at the time. A few weeks before the birth of their daughter, the former Angers footballer had left Stacy G., the mother of their eldest son, who was then 7 months pregnant. Baptiste Santamaria had probably left for another woman, which his ex did not really digest. This day in October 2022, it was with his new partner that the midfielder showed up to pick up his son.
A story of trophy and syphilis
Weakened by a recent ankle operation, Baptiste Santamaria wanted to entrust his boy to his new girlfriend so that she could take him by car, which his ex had not really appreciated. “She told me she drove better than me. I told him that I would rather be a poor driver than put a Ligue 1 player as a trophy and have syphilis between my legs,” explained the footballer’s ex-partner on the stand.
The latter complained of “two blows” delivered by the footballer, who is more than a head taller than her. Baptiste Santamaria explained that he had acted “out of fear” in reaction to a blow received on his painful ankle. “I felt a shock in my ankle,” he said.
The former couple had tried to put an end to the controversy by jointly withdrawing their complaint in January 2023, but the prosecution decided to continue the proceedings, considering that a minor had witnessed the facts. “I don’t know anything about football but we can think that if the gentleman was not a professional footballer, there would not have been all these prosecutions,” argued Me Sammy Jeanbart, counsel for the young woman.