Judge Turnbull raised concerns Hayne would face “significantly deprived circumstances” because he would be separated from other prisoners until he is classified after sentencing. Once he is sentenced, he will be sent to a protective jail for high profile inmates.
He said he would face deprivation “not because of his offending... but because he’s Jarryd Hayne.”
Judge Turnbull read out several threatening messages Hayne and his wife had received online, including “Big Bubba is waiting”.
Another one read: “Should lock him up with a few guys and teach him what it’s like to have your consent disregarded”.
Judge Turnbull said what he had was “evidence that suggests public interest in this matter is of the very highest level”.
He told the court the sex offenders who will inevitably face full-time prison, as Hayne will in this case, are legally required to be denied bail unless there are exceptional circumstances.
But he said this case met the threshold for exceptional circumstances.
“It is not some obscure criminal (who is) only well-known to certain groups as opposed to the general prison population - it’s a man who is well-known in the community and has been elevated in a way that is exceptional,” Judge Turnbull said.
The court heard from a prison manager who explained Hayne would be segregated for his own safety from the moment he arrives in prison until he is sentenced, and would only be allowed outside for one hour a day.
Hayne’s defence barrister Margaret Cunneen SC earlier told the court Hayne would be at risk of danger in jail, having been targeted the last time he was behind bars.
“Mr Hayne is being treated as the most evil and serious sex offender ever that has ever come out of the earth,” Ms Cunneen told the court.
She said Hayne was more susceptible to threats in jail to that now that the “intensity of publicity is greater than ever” and that “the visceral response is grossly out of proportion to the relative seriousness to the circumstances in this case”.
The detention application was also opposed on the grounds that Hayne’s wife and children would have to move from Sydney to seek family support if Hayne was relocated, he had obeyed his bail conditions since was first charge with the offences in 2018 and he had committed no crimes since.
But Crown Prosecutor John Sfinas SC submitted the family would have to relocate when Hayne is inevitably sentenced to jail.
“All it comes down to is the fact the offender was a high-profile footballer, that’s all it comes down to,” he said.
Hayne is due to be sentenced on May 8.
