EXCLUSIVE
Jarryd Hayne wasn’t the only one relieved when he walked out of prison on Wednesday night – some of the fallen NRL star’s jailers were also glad to see him go.
Hayne was released from Mary Wade Correctional Center in Lidcombe, western Sydney, shortly before 5pm after he was granted bail after his rape convictions were overturned.
A source familiar with the minimum-security facility, which was previously a women’s prison and before that a juvenile detention center, said Hayne had a reputation as an arrogant inmate.
“He is constantly rude to staff and is a nightmare to deal with,” the source said. “I think the staff will be cheering today.”
Hayne’s rape conviction was overturned in the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal on Wednesday morning and he was granted bail in the early afternoon.
Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne is pictured leaving Mary Wade Correctional Center on Wednesday afternoon after his rape convictions were overturned.
Jarryd Hayne wasn’t the only one relieved when he walked out of prison on Wednesday night – some of the fallen NRL star’s jailers were also glad to see him go. He is shown leaving Mary Wade Correctional Center in western Sydney on Wednesday night.
The Director of Public Prosecutions will now have to decide whether the 36-year-old faces trial for a fourth time.
Hayne had been behind bars since April 2023 when a jury found him guilty of two counts of having sexual relations without consent with a woman in Newcastle six years ago.
Before being transferred to Mary Wade, Hayne had been housed at the Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Center in northwest Sydney.
While there, he made headlines for coming to the aid of other inmates when a prisoner collapsed during a soccer game after suffering a heart attack.
Correctional Services officers performed CPR and saved the life of the affected prisoner.
During a previous period in custody at Cooma Correctional Center in the state’s south, another inmate scammed Hayne out of $780,000 in Bitcoin.
A week after Hayne was first jailed in May 2021, inmates at Parklea Correctional Center in Sydney’s northwest threw apples at him.
The fruit was thrown through a steel mesh fence separating Hayne from the general prison population and missed its target.
Hayne appears outside court with his wife Amellia Bonnici after being found guilty of rape in April last year.
A source familiar with the Mary Wade Correctional Center, which was formerly a women’s prison and before that a juvenile detention center, said Hayne had a reputation as an arrogant inmate.
Hayne has been tried three times in the New South Wales District Court over rape allegations.
His first trial resulted in a hung jury in December 2020 and the second ended with convictions in March 2021 that were overturned in February 2022 on appeal.
A jury in the third trial returned guilty verdicts in April 2023 and a month later Judge Graham Turnbull sentenced Hayne to a minimum of three years in prison.
On Wednesday, those convictions were quashed on the basis that Judge Turnbull erred by not allowing the rape complainant to be questioned further during the trial.
The Court of Criminal Appeal also ruled that the judge did not give adequate instructions to the jury on how to deal with allegations that the complainant had lied.
A third ground of appeal, arguing that the now overturned guilty verdicts were unsafe or unreasonable, was not accepted.
The former Parramatta Eels defender appeared in court via audio-visual link wearing a green tracksuit and a tired expression as he waited to hear the outcome of his case.
Wednesday’s verdict was met with celebrations by Hayne’s supporters.
Hayne was released from Mary Wade Correctional Center in Lidcombe shortly before 5 p.m.
“He is constantly rude to staff and is a nightmare to deal with,” the source said. “I think the staff will be cheering today.” Hayne is pictured leaving prison on Wednesday.
Hayne’s first trial resulted in a hung jury in December 2020 and the second ended with convictions in March 2021 that were overturned in February 2022 on appeal.
Double Dally M winner’s close companion Daniel Son shared an Instagram image that read: “You’re a fucking beauty.”
In three separate criminal trials the rape complainant was said to have changed her mind about having sex with Hayne on the night of the 2018 NRL Grand Final after realizing she had a taxi waiting outside her home.
Hayne’s lawyer, Tim Game SC, said at her appeal hearing in April that the woman had deleted messages between her and Hayne, showing she had initially shown a sexual interest in him.
The footballer’s defense team also argued that the woman should have been questioned about why she allegedly told police: “If that message gets out, I’m screwed and he’ll leave.”
The third trial heard that the woman sent messages to a man in the hours before the incident with Hayne.
In one message, the woman said: “If we are not going to continue talking, I will say yes to Jarryd” and comes to his house.
The messages were only revealed when that man contacted Hayne’s lawyers.
Hayne has been tried three times in the New South Wales District Court over rape allegations. She is shown leaving Mary Wade Correctional Center on Wednesday.
The complainant messaged another woman the same day she met Hayne and told her that the footballer “attacked her”, but did not say it was not consensual.
The court was told the claimant had heard Hayne’s previous appeal in 2021 and had contacted a social media friend on Facebook on the same day.
“I hope this was worth it to you,” the message read.
‘The pain I have endured from all of this is unfathomable. I have never lied. I’ve never done anything to you and you writing something to JH about me inviting him doesn’t excuse what happened.
‘I didn’t tell you because it was disgusting and confusing for me. If it comes out, you can thank yourself. This has been the hardest and most painful thing I have ever been through and you can thank yourself for helping a guilty person.’
Hayne’s lawyers attempted to rely on the messages to suggest that the victim “deliberately withheld her communications because… they did not support her version of what happened and then (possibly) attempted to influence her evidence.”
Judge Turnbull had rejected requests for the woman to be questioned about the statement, saying it had “almost infinitesimal weight”.
Hayne played 214 NRL matches for Parramatta (191) and Gold Coast (23) between 2006 and 2018, as well as 23 State of Origin matches for New South Wales (2007-2017) and 11 tests for Australia (2007-2003). ).
He had one season in the NFL as a running back with the San Francisco 49ers in 2015 and missed selection for the Fiji rugby sevens team at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
