
French rugby international Mohamed Haouas was on Tuesday handed a one-year jail sentence for hitting his wife in public.
Haouas, 29, who has played 16 times for France, told a court he had lost control when he saw his wife smoking at the shopping centre where she worked, after telling him she had given up.
"She has the right to smoke... but the problem is that she lied to me... and I said to myself that if she can lie about the cigarette, she could lie about other things," he told the court in Montpellier, southern France.
The court did not follow therecommendations of the prosecution, who had called for Haouas to face 18 months in prison, beginning immediately.
Instead he will remain free while he launches an appeal, or he could wear an electronic tag.
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