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National

Prosecutors lodge bid to overturn Jarryd Hayne bail decision ahead of sentencing

Jarryd Hayne leaves Downing Centre District Court after being found guilty of rape last week. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts)

Former NRL player Jarryd Hayne will this week face another attempt from prosecutors to have him remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing for sexual assault in May.

Hayne, 35, was this month found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, stemming from an incident in Newcastle more than four years ago.

A jury accepted he forced oral and digital sex on a woman who told him to stop after he arrived at her home in a taxi on grand final night in September 2018.

The ex-rugby league and NFL star maintains his innocence, saying the sexual acts were consensual, and has flagged an appeal against the jury's verdicts.

Prosecutors failed in a detention application heard before the District Court on April 6, where Judge Graham Turnbull accepted Hayne's fame would render him a "target" in custody.

"Unfortunately, prison environments do expose people to random gratuitous violence," the judge said. 

"This is a man who is well known in the community and whose profile has been elevated to a level which I would say is exceptional."

The NSW Supreme Court has confirmed the Director of Public Prosecutions has lodged an application to appeal Judge Turnbull's decision.

A hearing has been set down before Justice Richard Button on Friday.

Jarryd Hayne said he was "devastated" and would appeal the jury's verdicts. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts)

Hayne's lawyers argued exceptional circumstances meant he should not be held on remand, despite Judge Turnbull stating "there's no doubt" a full-time prison sentence will be imposed next month.

Among the arguments made on behalf of Hayne was that he needed to help his wife and children move out of Sydney, and to protect them from ongoing abuse stemming from his rape trials.

Hayne's convictions came at the end of a third trial over the same incident, with the first, in 2020, ending in a hung jury and the second, in 2021, with guilty verdicts.

After the second trial, Judge Helen Syme jailed Hayne for a maximum of five years and nine months.

He spent nine months in prison before being released in February 2022 after successfully appealing, and a third trial was ordered, which began in March 2023.

The jury deliberated for more than a week before delivering unanimous guilty verdicts to both charges.

Judge Turnbull will deliver sentence on May 8.

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