Jarryd Hayne has had his convictions for sexually assaulting a woman quashed and a third trial has been ordered for the case.
In 2021, Hayne was found guilty of two counts of sexually assaulting a woman, then aged 26, at her home in September 2018.
The 33-year-old was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison, with a non-parole period of three years and eight months. The verdict was returned in a second trial, after a first had ended with a hung jury.
His convictions have now been quashed by a three-judge panel in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal. The case will now go to a third trial.
Hayne has been in jail for more than nine months.
Hayne’s barrister put forward four appeal grounds, including an argument that directions given to the jury in the second trial were flawed, and that there was inconsistent evidence.
During the trial, the court heard that Hayne sexually assaulted the woman in her bedroom, while her mother was in the house, causing her injuries. Hayne had been in Newcastle for a friend’s bucks party and went to the woman’s house on his way back to Sydney.
Hayne argued it had been consensual.
“I do not accept the offender did not know or did not hear the victim telling him she did not want to have sex with him,” Judge Syme said at the time.
Chief Justice Tom Bathurst, Justice Helen Wilson and Justice Ian Harrison will publish the reasons for their appeal decision.
In delivering her sentence in 2021, Judge Syme said Hayne was aware the woman was not consenting. “I have found the offender was fully aware that the victim was not consenting and went ahead anyway. His decision to do so increases the objective seriousness,” she said.
If you or someone you know is impacted by family and domestic violence or sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.
In an emergency, call 000.