Rugby league-Hayne freed from jail after sexual assault convictions quashed

12/6/2024 17:18

        Former Australia rugby league international Jarryd Hayne had his sexual assault convictions quashed by an appeal court on Wednesday and will be released 12 months after being sentenced to nearly five years in prison.
        
        The 36-year-old, who also had a brief stint in the National Football League (NFL) with the San Francisco 49ers, was last year found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and sentenced to four years and nine months in jail.
        
        Hayne had pleaded not guilty to both charges and had had an earlier guilty verdict overturned on appeal.
        
        On Wednesday in a split decision, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal quashed the convictions on the basis that the trial judge had not allowed the complainant to be further cross-examined.
        
        The court also ruled the trial judge had not properly directed the jury on the matter of how to consider allegations that the complainant had lied.