A woman who took top Australian rugby star Jarryd Hayne to court has been spat at after he was found guilty of raping her in 2018, with a large mob forming a "ring of steel" around his pregnant wife following his long sentence.
Two-time National Rugby League player of the year Hayne will spend at least three years and eight months in prison after being handed a total sentence of five years and nine months following his conviction in March for two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
Hayne's wife was crowded by a group reported to be friends of Haynes' as she made her way to a vehicle to leave, with the victim said to have been subjected to abuse after the 33-year-old was jailed by a judge who ruled that he had committed an extreme form of violence.
“You don’t owe somebody your body, nor should they expect it,” the 28-year-old, who cannot be named, said of the incident on the outskirts of Newcastle on the night of September 30 2018, when the court heard that Hayne had arrived drunk on her home before committing two sex acts on her without her consent, was well as causing two separate injuries to her genitalia before leaving.
“My body remembers and my mind won’t let me forget. This assault has changed me. It changed my direction and who I was. I don’t remember the last time I had a proper sleep.”
The jury heard that Hayne pushed her head into the pillow, ripped off her trousers and attacked her despite being told "no" and "stop" when he tried to kiss and touch her.
Hayne, who said his proposed one-year, $500,000 deal with the St George Illawarra was "put to bed" on the day he was charged with sexual assault, added that he knew the woman did not want to have sex with him after she realized he had a taxi waiting outside, but that she had agreed to him performing oral sex on her to please her.
He also claimed that the woman’s injuries were caused when he accidentally cut her with his finger, while the victim, whose honesty was considered to have been comprehensively checked by the judge, said she could not hold him off because of his strength as a professional athlete.
The woman said she had visited psychologists to try to eradicate the memory of the incident, moving out of her home with her mother and feeling unable to trust anyone.
"Nobody should have to feel that way," she implored, admitting she had been frustrated by reading remarks about the case on social media. "I’m destroyed and damaged but I’m still standing.”
Ex-Parramatta Eels captain Tim Mannah testified that he had noticed Hayne taking a deeper interest in Christianity after he was charged and went to a bible college in Perth as part of his bail conditions.
The player said that Hayne would be all-but incapable of having a conversation without mentioning a bible extract, and defense barrister Richard Pontello cited Hayne's sincere reconnection with his faith as a sign that he was highly unlikely to re-offend and could be rehabilitated.
The judge did not regard the prospect of that happening as being high because Hayne continues to protest his innocence.
“She [the victim] has every right to feel safe from attack in the privacy of her home,” they urged.
“The fact is she said no to the sexual activity the offender was forcing on her. The offender was fully aware the victim was not consenting.
“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.”
Hayne was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault by a jury of seven men and five women during a retrial in Sydney, and not guilty of the two more serious charges of aggravated sexual assault without consent inflicting actual bodily harm.
The first jury in Newcastle was discharged in December after being deadlocked, failing to reach a verdict.
Also on rt.com Blood-stained bedsheets: Graphic evidence helps convict Aussie rugby league star Jarryd Hayne of sexual assault