Former rugby league player Jarryd Hayne has been pictured sporting a new look days after leaving jail following a successful appeal of his rape convictions.
The former Parramatta Eel, 36, was released from prison on Tuesday after a court overturned his rape convictions for the second time.
Hayne spent more than a year behind bars after a jury found him guilty in April 2023 of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
Stripping off his green prison clothes, the notably trim Hayne was seen returning to a property in Merrylands, in Sydney’s west, on Friday.
The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal overturned Hayne’s convictions on Wednesday on the basis that a judge erred by not allowing the plaintiff to be questioned further during the trial.
Hayne is understood to be staying at the property and was seen wearing a Calvin Klein shirt, khaki trousers and holding a cup of coffee.
The former soccer star’s newfound freedom comes amid uncertainty over the prospect of a fourth trial over the allegations.
Hayne will return to court on July 26, giving the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions time to decide whether to retry the 36-year-old.
In an earlier statement, the ODPP said that “any decision regarding a possible new trial will be made in accordance with the prosecutor’s guidelines.”
Hayne has always denied the allegations.
Hayne was granted bail without contest Wednesday afternoon and the case will return to state district court in late July.
Another trial has been ordered, which would be Hayne’s fourth, but whether he will have another jury will be a matter for prosecutors.
The state’s highest court overturned Hayne’s conviction after ruling that the trial judge erred in not allowing a closer examination of the plaintiff.
Hayne has faced three trials over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman at a Newcastle home on the night of the 2018 NRL Grand Final.
The first trial in 2021 resulted in a hung jury and therefore could not reach a verdict; The subsequent trial in 2021 found him guilty, but the verdict was overturned.
