Love story with wife Amellia grew amid three rape trials
Jarryd Hayne’s wife married him in “secret” between rape trials. She now faces the prospect of raising the couple’s child alone.
NRL
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Courtroom tears came hard and fast for the wife of former NRL star Jarryd Hayne, when her partner of seven years was found guilty of rape.
It is a crime that could see the 35-year-old spend more than a decade in jail.
Amellia Hayne now faces the prospect of raising their child alone — a far cry from their fast-tracked romance which began in 2016.
The couple fell pregnant in a matter of weeks after meeting on Instagram seven years ago, shortly after Hayne returned from a stint in the NFL to join the NRL again with the Titans.
They had been together for nearly three years when Hayne hit the headlines for a far less enviable reason than his sporting achievements or endeavours.
In November, 2018, Hayne first faced criminal charges relating to the NRL Grand Final night two months earlier.
He was accused of assaulting the woman with his hands and mouth as he stopped by her house on his way back to Sydney from a Bucks weekend in Newcastle.
Those allegations have now been tested in three separate trials. And Amellia Hayne’s support for her partner-turned-husband has not wavered.
From the day Hayne first faced court over the charges in late-2020 until today, when he was found guilty of them, Amellia has watched him be jailed in handcuffs, raised their young child while he spent nine months behind bars, and welcomed him home when he was released on appeal.
She has regularly arrived to court hand-in-hand with Hayne during all three trials, each time enduring days or weeks of uncomfortable evidence that a jury has now accepted as true, undoubtedly to her devastation.
By Hayne’s own admission in a 2020 Christmas Day Instagram post which he announced their engagement, their lives since meeting had been a “rollercoaster”.
And it’s easy to see why.
The caption of the post read: “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favour from the LORD. Proverbs 18:22 NKJV.
“Its (sic) been a rollercoaster. But im (sic) thankful for God and what the Holy Spirit has done through us. Its (sic) only by the grace of God we are here and were excited moving forward as Husband n Wife”.
That post came just three weeks after the jury in Hayne’s first rape trial could not reach a verdict and a retrial was ordered.
After a whirlwind four-week engagement, the couple got married in what they’d hoped would be a secret ceremony. They reportedly kept the location secret for all but a few guests until the last minute.
But news of their intention to tie the knot was leaked to the media, and Hayne shared his disappointment in another Instagram post, stating it was “unfortunate to not have the honour to announce this ourselves”.
The couple wed on January 26, 2021 – five years to the day of meeting.
Just three days after Amellia Bonnici became Amellia Hayne, their honeymoon period was tainted as a retrial date was ordered for March 8.
They had been married just 55 days when their lives were thrown into disarray, after the jury in the second trial found Hayne guilty. However, this was completely quashed by the Court of Appeal.
As had been the case from the beginning of the recurrent criminal proceedings, a loyal Amellia was by his side.
She held his hand as he addressed media outside court, saying he would rather “go to jail knowing I spoke the truth than be a free man living a lie”.
On May 6, 2021, Hayne was sentenced to five years and nine months jail, with a non-parole period of three years and eight months.
However, he only served nine months in prison before walking out on February 15, just in time to celebrate his 34th birthday.
Hayne’s barrister had successfully argued for his client’s convictions to be overturned on the appeal ground that the jury in the second trial was given flawed legal directions.
The judge allowed Hayne to spend time with his friends and family while awaiting a third trial, having granted bail with a $20,000 surety.
From Hayne’s prison release until his third trial, which started this month, Hayne and Amellia mostly stayed out of the public eye.
On June 3 last year – four months since he was freed – Hayne posted a photo of the couple on Instagram with a loving birthday message that read: “Happy birthday @amelliahayne hope you enjoyed your day.
“You have been amazing these last 12 months. Your (sic) a amazing Wife but even better Mum”.
Three weeks before the third trial began, Hayne posted a photo to Instagram of the couple celebrating his birthday on the Hawkesbury River.
The caption thanked Amellia for “organising a great surprise” and ended with: “I love you”.
A jury in the third trial has now found Hayne guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent. It is the second trial to do so.
As always, Amellia supported Hayne throughout the trial.
She stood stone-faced through it all, until the moment her husband was found guilty. In that moment, she placed her head in her hands and cried in the courtroom, amid a dozen other supporters who were also emotional.
Their love story – which has proven to overcome difficulties others would likely not – will undeniable face many more difficult chapters.
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