Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne has been sentenced to five years and nine months in jail, hours after his sexual assault victim declared he had destroyed her life on the night of the 2018 NRL grand final.
He will have to serve at least three years and eight months behind bars after being found guilty in March of two counts of sexual assault.
Judge Helen Syme was scathing in her assessment of Hayne’s actions as she delivered her sentence in Newcastle District Court, declaring the two-time NRL player of the year was “fully aware” his victim was not consenting to sex.
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“I do not accept the offender did not know, or hear, that the victim did not want to have sex with him,” Judge Syme said.
“He was fully aware the victim was not consenting and went ahead anyway.”
“(There is) no other conclusion, other than the offender knew she did not consent.
“She said no to the sexual act, that the offender was forcing upon her.
“She had no prospect of stopping him physically.”
7NEWS journalist Leonie Ryan reported there were “gasps in the courtroom” after Hayne was sentenced, with one woman yelling out “you’re innocent”.
Hayne, 33, who was dropped off outside court on Thursday before a crowd of supporters tried to shield him from the media, was found guilty by a jury of seven men and five women during a retrial in Sydney last month.
He was found not guilty of the two more serious charges of aggravated sexual assault without consent inflicting actual bodily harm.
He was facing a maximum 14 years in jail.
The first jury in Newcastle was discharged in December after failing to reach a verdict.
The crown case against Hayne was he arrived drunk at the woman’s house on the outskirts of Newcastle about 9pm on September 30, 2018 and stayed for about 45 minutes, committed two sex acts on her without her consent involving digital penetration and oral sex before causing two separate injuries to her genitalia before leaving.
The woman’s mother was in the lounge room watching the grand final during the assault.
The woman, who was 26 at the time of the assault, told the jury Hayne tried to kiss and touch her but when she said “no” and “stop” he pushed her head into the pillow, ripped off her trousers and attacked her.
Hayne claimed he knew the woman did not want to have sex with him after she realised he had a taxi waiting outside, but she agreed to him performing oral sex on her to please her.
He said the woman’s injuries must have been caused when he accidentally cut her with his finger.
Hayne had paid a taxi driver $550 to take him home to Sydney after a two-day buck’s party for rugby league player Kevin Naiqama in Newcastle when he decided to pop in to the woman’s nearby home.
He had never met her but believed she had promised him sex after they had been exchanging flirty messages on Instagram and Snapchat.
The victim admitted she had been open to having sex with Hayne but was hoping for a future with the former Parramatta Eels star, not a fling.
7NEWS understands Hayne is intending to appeal his sentence.
Victim’s harrowing testimony
The woman attacked by Hayne says she has constant flashbacks of seeing his face during the sexual assault.
She told the District Court Hayne had destroyed her life and she would never be the same again.
In her emotional victim impact statement read to the court, the 28-year-old woman, who cannot be named, said Hayne had made her feel dirty and violated.
She said he had made her feel like an object and had been seeing right through her.
Jarryd Hayne discusses rape allegation with Mitchell Pearce.
“You don’t owe somebody your body, nor should they expect it,” the woman said.
“My body remembers and my mind won’t let me forget.
“This assault has changed me. It changed my direction and who I was.
“I don’t remember the last time I had a proper sleep.”
The woman had endured “countless hours of crying” and visited various psychologists to try to push the memory of what happened to the back of her mind.
Jarryd Hayne arrives at court ahead of sentencing
She and her mother had been forced to move out of their home because she could never be in that bedroom again.
The woman no longer trusted anyone, pushed everyone away and “freaks out if I get close to anyone”.
She told the court she made the mistake of looking at social media and wanted to scream at people discussing the case and “set them straight”.
“What I experienced was horrible. Nobody should have to feel that way. I’m destroyed and damaged but I’m still standing.”
With AAP
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