Jarryd Hayne jury to re-examine evidence after impasse in sexual assault trial

The jury in Jarryd Hayne’s sexual-assault trial has been unable to reach a unanimous verdict but the judge has asked them to try again.

Former star rugby league player Jarryd Hayne leaves Newcastle District Court after giving evidence . Picture: NCA NewsWire / Peter Lorimer.

The jury in Jarryd Hayne’s sexual-assault trial has been unable to reach a unanimous verdict on both of the serious charges he is facing, a court has heard.

In one of two notes passed to Newcastle District Court judge Peter Whitford on Friday, the jurors said they could not reach a decision but were prepared to return next week to “re-examine” the evidence.

The jury of eight men and four women have been deliberating since Thursday over whether former NRL star Hayne is guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in Newcastle on NRL grand-final night 2018, which he denies.

Judge Whitford urged the jurors to keep deliberating before he released them for the weekend. They will return to their duties on Monday.

Hayne is on trial at Newcastle District Court, charged with two counts of aggravated sexual intercourse without consent recklessly inflicting actual bodily harm. He is fighting claims he forced himself on the woman by pulling off her pants before performing digital and oral sex on her at a home on Newcastle’s outskirts.

The court heard she allegedly suffered two lacerations to her genitalia during the encounter, causing bleeding, as a taxi waited outside to drive Hayne to Sydney.

The former Parramatta fullback was in town for a buck’s party and arranged to meet her on September 30, 2018, after they had exchanged flirty messages over social media in the weeks before.

He denies the woman’s claims she was telling him “no” and says the sex was consensual. Hayne claims the woman’s injuries were caused by his fingernail.

His barrister Phillip Boulten SC on Thursday told the jury the woman’s injuries were simply a result of his client’s “bad sex”.

“He was trying to please her, sexually. But it ended really badly,” Mr Boulten said in his closing address. “It caused her a lot of pain, discomfort and grief. And to be frank his sexual prowess turned out to be terrible.”

Crown prosecutor Brian Costello argued in his closing address the jury should reject Hayne’s evidence as being unreliable.

Mr Costello said Hayne effectively invited himself over to the woman’s house, ditching his friends at the party and missing out on watching a grand final featuring some of his former State of Origin teammates.

“He’s given that up for one plain and obvious reason — the sex he thought he had been promised by way of those communications,” he said.

“The reason he went there was for sex, pure and simple.”

Hayne did not stop to consider if the woman was consenting, the barrister told the jury.

Mr Costello said the fact he had “achieved a level of fame few of us have achieved” did not permit the jury to “give him a pass”.

The trial will reconvene on Monday.

NCA NewsWire