Jury reaches a unanimous verdict on ONE of the charges against Jack de Belin and his friend – but the decision will be kept under wraps for now
- A District Court jury has reached a unanimous verdict on one of the six charges
- But the jury is deadlocked over the five remaining charges, the court has heard
- Judge Nicole Noman urged 12 jurors to continue deliberating on other offences
- Jurors are each ‘firm and resolute’ on their verdicts, a later note to judge said
- Both Jack de Belin and Callan Sinclair deny raping 19-year-old in December 2018
- They have claimed the sex at a North Wollongong unit was consensual
The jury has reached a verdict on one of the charges against Jack de Belin and his friend Callan Sinclair – but the decision will be kept under wraps for now
The jury in the rape trial of footballer Jack de Belin and his mate Callan Sinclair has reached a unanimous verdict on one of the six charges.
But the NSW District Court has heard the 12 jurors ‘definitely’ can’t reach a similar unanimous decision on the five remaining counts against the pair.
At about 1pm on Monday, Judge Nicole Noman ordered the Sydney jury to try and reach an 11 to 1 majority verdict on the outstanding charges.
The jury is in its sixth day of deliberations over the sexual assault claims against the suspended St George Illawarra forward, 30, and his mate, 24.
Both men pleaded not guilty to the charges, claiming they had consensual sex with the 19-year-old alleged victim at a North Wollongong unit in December 2018.
The jurors had told the judge in a note this afternoon that each of them were ‘firm and resolute’ in their verdicts.
When the foreperson was asked in court if the jury could reach further unanimous verdicts given further time, he said: ‘Definitely not’.
The single verdict the jury has been able to reach relates to an allegation de Belin anally raped a 19-year-old woman while Sinclair was in another room. However the decision the jury reached on that charge remains a secret for now.
Callan Sinclair outside court last week. The amateur footballer is also facing a series of charges
Judge Noman has opted to keep that single verdict under wraps until jurors reach a position on the remaining charges.
In an earlier note to the judge read in court on Monday, the jury said they have ‘been through a rigorous process of examining all of the evidence proferred in the trial’.
But they said they didn’t believe it was possible to reach a unanimous verdict on the other charges.
The jury has now been directed to reach a majority verdict on the following charges:
The first charge on the indictment alleged De Belin inflicted bodily harm on the woman during a sexual assault.
Count two alleged that Sinclair was part of a joint criminal enterprise when de Belin assaulted the woman.
Counts three to five on the indictment alleged sexual intercourse without consent in company relating to vaginal and oral sex acts committed by the men.
The St George Illawarra forward, 30, has been benched while facing the charges in court
Judge Noman told the jury that past experience has shown juries can often agree if given enough time to consider and discuss the issues.
‘But if, after calmly considering the evidence and listening to the opinions of other jurors, you cannot honestly agree with the conclusions of other jurors, you must give effect to your own view of the evidence,’ she said.
At trial, prosecutors said the accused men’s evidence was ‘sprinkled’ with words and actions ‘to turn the narrative into a false picture of a consensual sexual encounter.’
‘They just went too far and it became inherently implausible,’ said prosecutor David Scully.
In closing submissions, de Belin’s lawyer dubbed the accuser ‘inherently unreliable’.
‘This woman is the sort of person who takes a grain of fact and then moulds it, changes it, distorts it and uses it to tell a tale,’ David Campbell SC told jurors more than a week ago.
Sinclair’s lawyer reminded the jury their decision should not be about sympathy, emotion or even whether the woman was lying.
‘Not guilty means you’re not satisfied the Crown has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt,’ Sharyn Hall said.
The deliberations continue at the Downing Centre District Court.
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