After more than four years and three trials, NRL star Jarryd Hayne has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman on the grand final night in Newcastle. Video / ABC Australia
D-Day has arrived for disgraced former NRL star and rapist Jarryd Hayne after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at her Newcastle home on the night of the NRL grand final in 2018.
Judge Graham Turnbull SC will seal the fate of the 35-year-old, whowill be seen in public for the first time during his sentence hearing, after he was sensationally taken into custody during a Supreme Court bail application on April 14.
But the Dally M winner requested to learn his fate via audiovisual link from Silverwater Remand Centre rather than being brought into court in person.
It is understood his wife Amellia Bonnici will also watch the proceedings online. She did not front court on Monday for the sentence hearing.
Judge Turnbull has previously told the court there is a high chance Hayne will be sentenced to a term of imprisonment over the sexual assault.
Former NRL superstar Jarryd Hayne and his wife Amelia Bonnici pictured leaving court during his final trial. Photo / NCA Newswire
The jury was told the woman refused to consent to sex because the ex-Parramatta fullback had a taxi waiting outside.
Hayne’s defence barrister, Margaret Cunneen SC, on Monday told the court the reason Bonnici chose not to attend proceedings as the publicity has had an “exceptional effect” on the family.
“I’m instructed she continues to support, it’s just been too much with the photographs taken of the children and herself,” the court heard.
“The media has been extremely negative about this and the social media has been appalling … the attacks were for Mr Hayne and to his wife.”
A victim impact statement was read to the court on behalf of the victim during the sentence hearing by Crown prosecutor John Sfinas.
The woman said her life has been a “never-ending nightmare” since September 30, 2018.
“I still don’t know how to put any of this into words,” the statement read.
“From the 30th of September 2018, my life has been launched into what feels like a never-ending nightmare.”
The woman said she was hoping to move on after the second trial, but said she hadn’t had the chance to “move on or feel peace”, reliving the trauma “over and over”.
“In September it will be five years since this has happened. I was a 26-year-old with the world at her feet, now I am nearly 31 and haven’t been able to finish uni,” the woman said.
Cunneen told the court Hayne is a “very different man” to the person who committed the offences in 2018.
”He doesn’t possess the personality and thought patterns and sexual arousal patterns of a sex offender, and also because of his life which has turned around considerably since the hiatus in the relationship with his now wife,” Cunneen said.
Where to get help: If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list. If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.