The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal has overturned the rape convictions of three Sydney men found guilty of assaulting three teenagers during a bucks party weekend in Newcastle. In a significant ruling delivered on Monday, December 8, 2025, the court ordered a retrial for two of the men and entered acquittals for the third.
Appeal Court Quashes Jury Verdicts
Maurice Hawell, 31, his brother Marius Hawell, 24, and Andrew David, 31, had been convicted in 2024 following an almost four-week joint trial. The jury found the trio guilty of sexually assaulting three young women over two consecutive nights in February 2022. The attacks occurred at an Airbnb in Newcastle rented for a bucks weekend ahead of Maurice Hawell's wedding.
The men successfully appealed their convictions, arguing that the trial judge made errors in her directions to the jury and that the verdicts were unreasonable. A panel of judges, including Justice Belinda Rigg, agreed, quashing all convictions.
One Acquitted, Two to Face Court Again
The court's decision has led to starkly different outcomes for the three appellants. Justice Rigg ordered that Maurice Hawell and Andrew David face a retrial in the NSW District Court. Their cases are scheduled to return to court on December 12, 2025.
In a decisive move, the court dismissed the convictions against Marius Hawell and entered verdicts of acquittal in their place. This ruling allows for his immediate release from prison, where he had been serving a nine-year sentence. His brother Maurice had been jailed for 14 years, and David for 13 years.
Details of the Original Case and Appeal Arguments
The original trial heard that after consensual sex on a Friday night, two 18-year-old victims went to retrieve their phones from a dark bedroom. They testified to being pushed onto a bed, stripped, and "swarmed" by naked men. The darkness made it impossible to identify individual perpetrators, leading to their conviction under a joint criminal enterprise.
The following night, a 19-year-old woman said she was pressured into the apartment for drinks and was then raped by Maurice Hawell and David, who allegedly took turns. Marius Hawell was said to have watched this assault.
During the appeal in August, barrister Tim Game SC argued for David that the evidence had been misconstrued. He contended it wrongly turned consensual sex into a threat of non-consensual sex, a proposition he said lacked supporting evidence. The lawyers claimed the jury may have been misled about the men's state of mind during the weekend.
The path forward now diverges sharply for the three men. Two prepare for another trial, while one walks free, the legal process having reached a dramatically different conclusion for him.
