Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne to launch appeal against rape conviction

Convicted sex offender Jarryd Hayne will return to court next week to launch an appeal against his rape conviction.

Convicted sex offender and former NRL star Jarryd Hayne will return to court next week as he launches an appeal against his rape conviction.

The 33-year-old was last month jailed for five years and nine months by District Court Judge Helen Syme after a jury found him guilty of two charges of sexual assault against a then 26-year-old woman inside her Newcastle home in September 2018.

After a jury in March found him guilty, Hayne flagged his intention to appeal his conviction.

“I'll definitely appeal,” he said shortly after the jury handed down its decision.

He added: “I’d rather go to jail knowing I spoke the truth than be a free man living a lie.“

During his sentencing at the Newcastle District Court in May, Hayne continued to profess his innocence.

“I didn't do it,” he told Judge Syme.

RELATED: Jarryd Hayne convicted of sex assault

Hayne was found guilty of the rape allegations. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

A female supporter in the public gallery yelled, “you’re innocent” as he was sentenced.

His first trial in Newcastle last year ended in a hung jury but he was found guilty following a second trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court earlier this year.

Hayne had pleaded not guilty but the jury accepted the evidence of the then 26-year-old woman who said that she did not consent to the ex-NFL convert performing oral and digital sex on her in her bedroom on NRL grand final night in October 2019.

She was left with two lacerations on her vagina which bled profusely.

Hayne insisted that her injuries were an accident and apologised.

Hayne supporters clashed with the media out the front of Newcastle Court after he was sentenced. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Peter Lorimer.

During her evidence, the woman said she refused to consent to sex because the ex-Parramatta fullback — who was in Newcastle for a two-day buck's party — had a taxi waiting outside.

It is not yet known what the grounds of Hayne’s appeal will be.

Hayne had 12 months since his conviction to launch an appeal.

The matter is listed to appear in the NSW Criminal Court of Appeal on Thursday next week.

Originally published as Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne to launch appeal against rape conviction