England international James Haskell has leapt to the defence of Danny Cipriani following the Gloucester flyhalf's conviction for common assault, insisting that his former Wasps teammate has faced "trial by social media".
Cipriani faced an RFU hearing Wednesday after being charged by the federation with conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game after being fined £2,250 by a court in Jersey and £2,000 by his club for the incident that ocured outside a nightclub on Aug. 15.
The outcome of his hearing, where punishment could range from a warning or a fine up to a suspension, is yet to be announced but Haskell believes Cipriani has already been punished enough for his crimes.
"It's a case of trial by social media and the problem of that is that everyone is ill-informed and knows nothing," Haskell said. "It's like me peeping over the wall at Oasis and telling them how to play guitar because I've watched 10 gigs. Professional sport brings out the best and worst of people.
"Ben Stokes was a great example -- people were ready to throw him under the bus and it's the same with Danny.
"People love to hate him but I know him as a good, hard-working guy and it's time to move on. I don't judge him and I don't think anybody should.
"It was time to move on an hour after the court case, but a few ex-players and coaches threw him under the bus for easy headlines.
"It's best to move on as there is a lot more to life than Danny Cipriani. I have spoken to him and he's good. It's unfortunate that when you have a profile, everything is times one million."