NRL player Jack de Belin to be retried in Sydney after rape trial jury fails to reach verdict
The NRL star Jack de Belin will be retried in Sydney after a Wollongong jury was unable to return verdicts on allegations he and a friend raped a 19-yearold woman.
The St George Illawarra Dragons back-rower, 29, and friend Callan Sinclair, 23, have each pleaded not guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault over the encounter in a North Wollongong unit in December 2018.
After discharging the hung jury on Monday, district court Judge Andrew Haesler on Wednesday agreed to move the three-week retrial to Sydney.
It is scheduled to begin on 12 April, with a pre-trial hearing tentatively
scheduled for 1 April.
The NRL confirmed this week the former NSW State of Origin lock would remain subject to its no-fault standdown rule until the court determined his criminal proceedings.
The NRL chief executive, Andrew Abdo, said the rule applied while a player was charged with an offence that carried a maximum sentence of 11 years or more.
“The no-fault stand-down rule is not about forming a view on the guilt or innocence of an individual, it is about protecting the values and reputation of the game while a serious criminal process is underway,” Abdo said in a statement.
De Belin and Sinclair were tried in November over the allegations that they raped a woman they had been partying with in December 2018.
Both said the sex was consensual and that she agreed to a threesome.
But the woman, 19 at the time, said she entered the unit to use the bathroom before De Belin forced himself on her.
Following a three-and-a-half week trial and nearly two days of deliberations, the Wollongong district court jury on Monday said it was unable to reach a unanimous decision on any of the five charges against each man.
Haesler gave the jury the option to return a majority verdict whereby 11 out of 12 jurors could be in agreement, but the jury took only minutes to decide that would not be possible.
“Absolutely not,” the jury foreperson replied when queried if a verdict could be reached with more time.