The jury has retired to consider its verdict in the rape trial of St George Illawarra Dragons star Jack de Belin and Shellharbour Sharks player Callan Sinclair.
The six men and six women were sent out to begin their deliberations on Thursday morning following carefully laid out legal instructions from Judge Andrew Haesler at the NSW District Court in Wollongong.
The jury has retired to consider its verdict in the Jack de Belin rape trial.Credit:Rhett Wyman
Judge Haesler, who has presided over nearly three weeks of evidence in Wollongong, urged the jury to take as long as needed to reach a unanimous decision on the fate of the two men.
"When you're out on verdict you should not feel you're being rushed to verdict," the judge said.
"There is no magic time you will have as long as you need."
Mr de Belin, 29, and Mr Sinclair, 23, have both pleaded not guilty to five charges each of aggravated sexual assault in response to allegations they jointly raped a 19-year-old woman in a Wollongong apartment in the early hours of December 9, 2018, after partying with her at a nightclub.
Callan Sinclair (centre) arrives at the NSW District Court in Wollongong.Credit:Rhett Wyman
Both men claim the encounter with the woman was consensual.
Mr de Belin's barrister David Campbell SC told the members of the jury they were not judges in a court of morals after they heard the allegations involved him cheating on his pregnant girlfriend.
Crown prosecutor David Scully said there was a "fundamental disconnect" between the women's intentions and that of the the men's prior to entering the apartment, and that Mr de Belin and Mr Sinclair went "too far" in trying to craft a story of consent.
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