Three men who gang-raped three women at their rented property during a buck's weekend will be sentenced to jail for their horrific crimes.
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Maurice Hawell, 30, his brother Marius Hawell, 22, and Andrew David, 30, have faced an almost four-week-long joint trial in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court.
Prosecutors brought the case after the trio sexually assaulted the three teenage women, who cannot be identified, over two consecutive days in February 2022 during a buck's weekend ahead of Maurice Hawell's wedding.
On Tuesday, the jury was discharged after delivering guilty verdicts for 10 out of 11 charges brought against the three men.
This included multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault in company relating to all three women and of aggravated sexual touching and the attempted aggravated sexual assault of one woman.
A further guilty verdict was also handed down against Maurice Hawell for attempting to sexually touch one of the victims without her consent.
Judge Gina O'Rourke discharged the jury after it was unable to reach a verdict on the final remaining count of aggravated sexual assault in company against all three men.
"I wish to thank you very much for your service over the last few weeks -
it is clearly not an easy matter," she said.
The trio wore prison greens as they were escorted into the dock, from which they blew kisses to three female supporters in the courtroom on Tuesday.
During the trial, jurors heard the men met three teenage women at a nearby pub and separately invited them back to their Airbnb unit in Newcastle.
After having consensual sex, two 18-year-old victims went to retrieve their phones from a darkened bedroom where they were pushed onto the bed, stripped and "swarmed" by naked men, crown prosecutor Craig Evans previously said.
Describing exactly who performed which sexual act was impossible because the room was dark, but prosecutors alleged the three men were engaged in a joint criminal agreement to rape and sexually touch the women.
On the following night, a 19-year-old said she entered the apartment on the pretext of drinks but was raped by Maurice Hawell and David, who took turns swapping sexual positions.
Marius Hawell came into the room and watched, Mr Evans told the court.
David and Marius Hawell will be sentenced on September 17, with Maurice Hawell to be sentenced next day.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Australian Associated Press
