Former NRL player Jarryd Hayne has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at her Newcastle home on the night of the 2018 NRL grand final.
After seven days of deliberating, the jury of six women and six men returned a unanimous verdict in the NSW District Court on Tuesday afternoon.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Jarryd Hayne found guilty of sexual assault.
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The 35-year-old breathed heavily and his relatives cried as the verdict was handed down.
Hayne was found guilty on two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
Outside court, Hayne maintained his innocence “100 per cent”.
“I never lied to the police. I never deleted evidence. I never hid witnesses,” he said.
He indicated an appeal could follow.
During what was his third trial, the court heard Hayne had never met the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, before the night of the assault, having communicated through social media.
The former NRL player was in town for a bucks’ weekend when he took a taxi to the woman’s home on September 30, 2018.
The taxi waited outside while Hayne assaulted the woman, as she told him “no” and “stop”.
The assault involved oral and digital sex which lasted about 30 seconds, ending when the woman’s genitals began to bleed, the court heard.
Hayne wiped blood from his hands and mouth before leaving the woman’s home, the court heard.
Evidence from the woman that had already been recorded was played to the jury in closed court.
During the trial, crown prosecutor John Sfinas said the victim never tried to present herself in a perfect light and openly acted in ways that might hurt her case, factors that make her a more credible source.
Since 2018, she has been unable to detail exactly how Hayne caused her to bleed, telling the jury, “I’ve never been able to give a complete answer to what he did, I only know the injuries”.
While she deleted texts that showed she had some interest in Hayne, Sfinas said she also kept messages that demonstrated a lack of clarity in consent.
“‘I was sort of scared and unsure and I wanted to but I also didn’t’, that message, you might think, is not good for her, but it’s here,” he said.
The breadth of her evidence showed she was a strong witness trying to tell her story without an agenda, even when there was an incentive to do otherwise, the prosecution argued.
Sfinas also says her ambiguous feelings towards Hayne leading up to the assault aren’t necessarily as important.
“Consent is a decision not given two weeks before or even two minutes before. A person consents to sexual intercourse if they freely and voluntarily agree,” he said.
But Hayne’s barrister Margaret Cunneen SC told the jury the woman “was much less than honest” with police, gave inaccurate evidence and “put the boot in”, accusing Hayne of sexual assault after a “disappointing” end to a meeting she had insisted on.
Cunneen told the jury the woman did not want to go to police, because she knew no crime had been committed.
“This accelerating train that starts when someone gets wind of an allegation of sexual assault is very hard to jump off,” Cunneen said in her closing address.
Cunneen said text messages sent to Hayne were deleted from the woman’s phone and other messages to a solicitor she communicated with on social media were initially concealed.
She said the woman “upped the ante” after telling a friend of the encounter and being told “that’s rape”.
The matter was referred to police by the NRL’s Integrity Unit in November 2018.
Hayne was a star player for the Parramatta Eels, represented NSW in State of Origin and played internationally for Australia and Fiji during his professional career.
He will face court again on Thursday and will be sentenced at a later date.
- With AAP
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.
In an emergency, call 000.
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