Former NRL star breaks silence, latest news

Jarryd Hayne has broken his silence, thanking supporters and loved ones, after sexual assault charges were formally dropped in a Sydney court on Friday.

Three days after the Director of Public Prosecutions announced he would not pursue a fourth trial against the former Parramatta and Gold Coast fullback, Hayne and his lawyers appeared in Sydney’s Downing Center District Court on Friday .

Judge Craig Everson heard the DPP had dropped two charges of sexual intercourse without consent.

Judge Everson told the court all proceedings against Mr Hayne had been dropped.

“Yes, obviously excited,” Mr Hayne said outside court, looking relieved as he walked out of court alongside his barrister Margaret Cunneen SC and barrister Lauren MacDougall.

“I stayed true to myself the whole time, the whole process. Today is vindication for me, my family and my loved ones.

“I want to thank everyone who supported me from day one, who supported me and stood by my side.”

At one point Mr Hayne stopped as he appeared to become emotional and at a loss for words.

Mr Hayne, 36, has always denied the allegations and his conviction has twice been overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

The 36-year-old was released from prison earlier this month after his convictions were overturned.

He spent more than a year behind bars after a jury found him guilty in April 2023 of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.

The attorney general confirmed in a statement Tuesday that he would not face a fourth trial.

“Having carefully considered the many competing factors that inform the public interest assessment in this case, the ODPP has decided not to proceed with a fourth trial against Mr Hayne,” the DPP said.

The two-time Dally M winner and NFL convert has consistently denied the allegations and said the sexual encounter, inside the woman’s Newcastle home on the night of the 2018 NRL grand final, was entirely consensual.

His first trial in 2021 resulted in a hung jury and following a second trial he was found guilty, but the verdict was overturned on appeal.

After a third trial, the jury accepted the woman’s version of events that she repeatedly said “no” and “stop.”

However, the state’s highest court overturned Mr. Hayne’s conviction after ruling that the trial judge erred in not allowing further examination of the plaintiff.

The appeal was upheld by a two-to-one majority decision by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

In her part of the judgment, Justice Deborah Sweeney said the guilty verdicts were unreasonable and said she was “of the view that there is a strong possibility that an innocent person has been convicted”.