Former NRL bad boy Corey Norman has been banned eight weeks and fined £500 (NZ$954) by the UK Super League, after attempting to insert a finger into an opponent's backside.
Playing for Toulouse, Norman, 31, was placed on report and charged with 'inappropriate contact' for the incident on Warrington's Oliver Holmes.
The charge carries a minimum punishment of an eight-game ban, which will end Norman's Super League season.
"The footage of the incident shows a deliberate movement of Corey Norman's left arm and hand over the top of Oliver Holmes and on to his buttocks," the official ruling read.
"At no point does the footage show a grabbing of the shorts to push Oliver Holmes down as described by Corey Norman.
"The footage shows a deliberate placing of Corey Norman's hands and fingers on the buttocks, and coupled with the immediate complaint from Holmes, the reaction of his teammate Danny Walker and the statement of Holmes to which we have measured regard, we are entirely satisfied that this was an intentional placing of a hand between the buttocks of the opposing player and we find the charge proved."
The one-game Queensland State of Origin player had a chequered NRL career spanning more than 200 games with Brisbane Broncos, Parramatta Eels and St George Illawarra.
Last year, he was fined $20,000 and handed a breach notice for his involvement in a street fight that allegedly saw a knife drawn.
Soon after, the Dragons told Norman he would not be retained for the 2022 season, but he was later fined $50,000 and suspended a game as one of the 13 St George players violating COVID-19 protocols at a team party, after they beat NZ Warriors in golden point.
He initially retired at the end of the season, but was lured back to play for Toulouse Olympique.
