Recent new developments in NRL star Jack de Belin’s sexual assault case may very well leave the road wide open for his return to the St George Illawarra Dragons.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution this week advised lawyers that the third rape charge against de Belin will be withdrawn on Friday, meaning he won’t be tried. De Belin, along with co-accused Callan Sinclair, previously faced a third trial later this year after juries in Sydney and Wollongong both returned hung results earlier this year.
The NRL has in the meantime issued a statement confirming that once the charges are formally withdrawn against the pair, de Belin will be offered a new contract with the Dragons, which contract was initially concluded in 2020.
De Bellin and Sinclair had previously pleaded not-guilty to charges laid against them by a then-19-year-old woman from North Wollongong back in 2018. The woman had accused the pair of raping her while she cried for mercy. The two players however contested this version of the events, saying they’d had consensual sex with the accuser as part of a threesome.
One of the charges laid against de Belin carried a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Dragons CEO Ryan Webb this week said the withdrawal of the charges marks the end to a particularly tumultuous period for everybody involved – including the league and the club itself. De Belin has not played in any NRL games ever since the charges were first laid in 2018.
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