Australia's Beale found not guilty of rape in Sydney court

SYDNEY : Australia international Kurtley Beale was found not guilty of three charges of sexual assault stemming from an incident with a woman in the toilet of a hotel bar near Bondi Beach in 2022, local media reported on Friday.

The 35-year-old was arrested in December 2022 and the following month charged with one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching.

The jury of seven women and five men at New South Wales District Court deliberated for less than two hours on Friday before finding Beale not guilty of all charges, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.

"My family and I have suffered a terrible year, and I'm so glad that the truth has come out," Beale told reporters outside the court.

A teenage prodigy marked out as a future Wallabies flyhalf from a young age, Beale has won 95 caps for his country in various different positions since his debut in 2009.

He returned to Australia at the end of 2022 and signed with the New South Wales Waratahs after playing for two years in France.

Beale was suspended from all rugby after his arrest and the case cost him the chance of playing at a fourth World Cup for the Wallabies in France last year.

He is expected to be given the all clear to return to rugby after the not-guilty verdict, although his contract with the Waratahs was only for one year and has now expired.