A Newcastle court has heard a woman feared her genitals were “mangled” by former NRL player Jarryd Hayne, who stands accused of sexually assaulting the woman in 2018.
Hayne, 32, is facing court on two charges of charges of aggravated sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm, linked to an alleged incident at the 26-year-old woman’s Fletcher home in September that year.
Hayne has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to both charges, with his legal team arguing he engaged in consensual sex with the woman.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the woman gave evidence at Newcastle District Court on Tuesday, describing the confronting circumstances of the alleged sexual assault.
The woman said she first made contact with Hayne through Instagram, and that the pair began exchanging messages soon after.
After being shown a message she sent to Hayne, which Crown prosecutor Brian Costello described as “quite forward”, the woman said she was “in fairyland” and had sent him texts in the hopes of meeting him.
“I think some of the things I said were maybe to get him to like me, and that’s embarrassing,” she said, adding, “I didn’t just want to meet up and have sex.”
The court heard Hayne took a taxi to the woman’s house, with the pair seeking privacy in the woman’s bedroom as her mother was also present at the time.
The woman alleged the pair had spent some time talking and listening to music when she noticed his taxi was still waiting outside.
She said the discovery made her think Hayne had “only come there for one thing,” adding there was “no way in hell I was going to touch him”.
She alleged Hayne then began kissing her and removed her clothes.
“I’m not sure whether he bit me or cut me or whatever the hell he did, but I was saying ‘don’t, no, I don’t want to,’” the woman told the court.
“And then I was bleeding everywhere.”
The court was shown messages the woman sent a friend that night, where she alleged “blood started pouring all over the bed”, and that her vagina looked like “it’s been chewed on”.
ABC reports that Costello also showed the court messages she sent to Hayne after he took the taxi back to Sydney.
“I know I have talked about sex and all that but I didn’t want to do that,” the woman said.
When she told Hayne she was “hurting”, Hayne replied that she should see a doctor the next day, adding that “my fingernail must have just clipped you”.
Hayne’s lawyer, Phillip Boulten SC, told the court the woman “consented to what happened even after she became unhappy, after the taxi was there”.
Boulten said any injuries sustained by the woman were accidental.
The trial continues.
Help is available.
If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
