November 10, 2024

Jarryd Hayne will be sentenced at 2.30pm today

Jarryd Hayne #JarrydHayne

Jarryd Hayne will be sentenced for two counts of sexual intercourse without consent at 2.30pm on Thurday.

The former NRL star was found guilty of raping a woman in her Newcastle home in September 2018 at a second district court trial in Sydney in March.

Hayne was surrounded by more than a dozen family and friends as he arrived at Newcastle Local Court on Thursday morning for a sentencing hearing.

The ABC’s Giselle Wakatama said the support crew “pushed away” reporters as he entered the court house.

The woman detailed the devastation of the ordeal in a victim impact statement she read to the court.

RELATED: Read what Hayne’s victim said

Hayne’s first sexual assault trial, held at Newcastle in December, resulted in a hung verdict.

The second jury took three days — 18 hours — to deliver the guilty verdict on March 23, with Hayne saying he would “respect” the decision.

“I’d rather go to jail knowing I spoke the truth than be a free man living a lie,” Hayne told reporters outside court.

“It’s unfortunate, it’s disappointing but at the end of the day they’ve come to a decision and I respect that.”

Hayne is facing a maximum of 14 years in prison for the offences.

RELATED: How Jarryd Hayne is spending his final days of freedom

RELATED: Jarryd Hayne found guilty of sexual assault

Following the guilty verdict, Judge Helen Syme told the court a jail term was “inevitable” for the 33-year-old and strengthened his bail terms to include daily reporting to police, a ban on leaving his local area and a $50,000 surety.

Judge Syme granted bail so he could organise accommodation for his family and finalise a psychological report.

Victim praised for her ‘courage, resilience and steely nature’

NSW Police Detective superintendent Stacey Maloney praised the victim for fighting through not one but two trials.

“What an incredible feat it was for the victim to go through this process,” Ms Maloney told reporters outside court after the guilty verdict.

“Her courage, resilience and steely nature through this process has been something investigators have worked with on a daily basis.

“In terms of encouraging victims to come forward, it is vitally important that they do and understand that the NSW Police Force will be along with them for that journey.”

The victim testified she told Hayne she would not have sex with him, after she realised the taxi they had shared to her Newcastle home was still running outside, waiting for him to leave.

The victim told the court she protested, telling Hayne “no Jarryd” and “no”, but he became “rough and forceful”.

The woman told the court Hayne pushed her face into the pillow, ripping her pants off and raping her.

The court was shown a video of the victim’s bed after the assault, showing spatters of blood on her light-coloured sheets.

Hayne was found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent but the jury cleared him of two counts of aggravated sexual intercourse without consent inflicting actual bodily harm — related to the woman bleeding during the rape.

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