Rugby league-Australia’s Hayne to face retrial after sexual assault conviction quashed

Australian rugby league international Jarryd Hayne has had his conviction for sexual assault overturned by the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal and has been ordered to face a retrial.

The 33-year-old had been found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent at a woman’s home in Newcastle in 2018 and was sentenced to five years and nine months in jail in May last year.

That conviction came after a first trial had ended in a hung jury in December 2020. He will now face a third trial after a three-judge panel upheld some of his grounds for appeal and quashed his conviction on Monday.

Newcastle District Court Judge Helen Syme said at the time of sentencing last May that Hayne was fully aware the victim was not consenting and went ahead anyway.

“The reliability and honesty of the victim’s evidence was tested at length and in my view, her reliability was not in doubt. She said no several times,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) quoted Syme as saying.

The incident happened on the night of the 2018 NRL Grand Final, when Hayne was in Newcastle for a friend