Two NSW footballers behind bars after being found guilty of rape
After deliberating for one day, a jury has found two country New South Wales footballers guilty of raping a woman at Scone in 2023.
Two rugby league players from Scone, New South Wales, have been found guilty of raping a woman in 2023. Hayden Topliss, 37, and Ryan Hawkshaw, 27, faced a jury for a week in the Newcastle District Court. The woman testified that she repeatedly said "no" and "stop" during the assault, despite some of the men claiming consent. The court accepted the woman's account, finding the men guilty of all charges after deliberating for one day.
Bail for the pair has been revoked, and they will be sentenced in November. The offences allegedly occurred in a spare bedroom at Topliss's home in Scone. The woman described the experience as "torture" and stated that she had consented to sexual activity with Hawkshaw beforehand, but was subjected to forced repositioning, hair pulling, and multiple acts of rape.
Crown Prosecutor Charisse Hodgeman emphasized the woman's testimony was "inherently believable" and that her account was detailed, not false or reconstructed.
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