EXCLUSIVE
Jarryd Hayne’s wife is the subject of an extraordinary court order preventing the publication of any photographs taken of her since the NRL star was jailed for rape.
The order prevents all media outlets from publishing photographs of Amellia Bonnici or her children taken at any time on or after May 12 of last year and that do not have an expiration date.
Judge Graham Turnbull made the suppression order on the day he sentenced Hayne to a minimum of three years in jail after his third trial in the New South Wales District Court.
The order did not include an explanation as to why it was issued, but Judge Turnbull had heard evidence that Ms Bonnici had particular “health conditions” and that her children had previously been photographed by the media.
Hayne was found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent with a 26-year-old woman in Newcastle in September 2018.
Those convictions were overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal on Wednesday and Hayne was granted bail, but a ban on photographing Mrs Bonnici or any of her three children remains in place.
Lawyers were baffled by the scope of the suppression order, which in its current form would prevent the publication of images taken with Bonnici’s permission.
“I think such a broad and unfettered order is extraordinary and unprecedented,” one media law expert told Daily Mail Australia.
Jarryd Hayne’s wife is the subject of an extraordinary court order preventing the publication of any photographs taken of her since the NRL star was jailed for rape. Ms Bonnici appears in front of the NSW Supreme Court a month before the ban was implemented.
While the former NRL star has been reunited with his wife and children, he is awaiting a decision from the Director of Public Prosecutions on whether he will face another trial.
The Crown Prosecution Service will consider whether a further prosecution is in the public interest, as well as factors including the time the 36-year-old has already spent in custody and whether the prospects of conviction are reasonable.
One of the three judges who heard Hayne’s appeal, Judge Deborah Sweeney, opposed presenting the case to another jury.
“I am of the opinion that, given the circumstances of the history of this matter, it would not be in the interest of justice to try the plaintiff for a fourth time,” Judge Sweeney wrote in her ruling.
The Court of Criminal Appeal concluded that Judge Turnbull had erred in not allowing the rape complainant to be questioned further during the third trial.
He also ruled that the judge had not adequately directed the jury on how to address allegations that the plaintiff had lied.
A third ground of appeal, arguing that the now overturned guilty verdicts were unsafe or unreasonable, was not accepted.
An order not to publish photographs of Amellia Bonnici did not include an explanation as to why it was made, but Judge Turnbull had heard evidence that Mrs Bonnici had particular “health conditions” and that her children had previously been photographed.
Judge Stephen Rothman said in his part of the sentence that a fourth trial was unlikely to take place before Hayne’s non-parole period ended in May next year.
“There are good reasons for not having a fourth trial, but in my view, given that the reason for the unreasonable verdict was not upheld, the discretion not to hold a fourth trial should be exercised by the Crown,” he said. he wrote she.
Bonnici was not in court the day her husband was sentenced to a maximum sentence of four years and nine months, but was present when his bail was revoked four weeks earlier.
She had sobbed and hugged Hayne for several minutes before he was taken away, telling the former Parramatta Eels defender that she loved him.
Hayne and Bonnici reportedly met through Instagram in early 2016 when he was playing for the Gold Coast Titans.
A few weeks later, Bonnici was pregnant with the couple’s first daughter, Beliviah Ivy.
Bonnici was not in court the day her husband was sentenced to a maximum sentence of four years and nine months, but was present when his bail was revoked four weeks earlier. She is pictured with Hayne in March last year.
Hayne had recently returned from a stint in the United States playing in the NRL with the San Francisco 49ers and signed a $1 million-a-year deal with the Titans.
The couple became engaged in late 2020 and married in front of 50 family and friends, including former NRL teammates, on Australia Day the following year.
Hayne, who was once a Hillsong Church poster, announced his union with Ms Bonnici by posting a Bible verse on Instagram.
‘He who finds a wife finds good, and obtains favor from Jehovah. Proverbs 18:22 NIV,” he wrote.
‘It’s been a roller coaster. But I am grateful for God and what the Holy Spirit has done through us. It is only by the grace of God that we are here and we are excited to move forward as husband and wife.’
At the time, Hayne was out on bail after his first trial over rape allegations ended with a hung jury.
Bonnici has continued to support her husband during his two periods in custody: the first for nine months and the second for almost a year. Hayne is pictured leaving Mary Wade Correctional Center in western Sydney on Wednesday night.
The New South Wales and Australian representative has since faced two more trials in which Hayne spent time in prison before the convictions were overturned on appeal.
Bonnici has continued to support her husband during his two periods in custody: the first for nine months and the second for almost a year.
Two days after Hayne was convicted for a second time in April last year, Bonnici stated why he should be allowed to remain free on bail.
Bonnici said she had been bombarded with offensive messages on her personal Facebook page and that hundreds of threatening posts had been made about Hayne on Twitter.
She became emotional when asked if she and Hayne had three children. “Yes, we do,” Mrs. Bonnici said, sobbing.
Bonnici told the court she had a strong relationship with Hayne’s mother, Jodie, but her husband’s family had not been around to help with the practical aspects of childcare.
Asked for reasons why Hayne should not be jailed, Mrs Bonnici said: “I can’t even put that into words.”
Judge Turnbull had asked Bonnici if her children, then aged six, three and one, had been photographed by the media without her consent and she said yes.
When asked if the children knew they had been photographed, Bonnici said the oldest had been “out of it this morning.”
Judge Turnbull had allowed Hayne to remain free, but his bail was revoked before sentencing.
