Kieran Hayler, the former husband of glamour model Katie Price, has been cleared of raping and sexually assaulting a thirteen-year-old girl in West Sussex in 2016. The thirty-nine-year-old was found not guilty at Lewes Crown Court on Thursday after the jury deliberated for fourteen hours and fifty-five minutes. He had denied all the allegations throughout, insisting they were fabricated and connected to the bitter fallout with Price following the collapse of their marriage. The verdicts covered three counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and four alternative counts of sexual activity with a child.
The trial itself became as much a examination of Price’s conduct as of the allegations against Hayler. Judge Mark van der Zwart criticised her behaviour in the witness box, describing her as what barristers of a previous generation would have called a “dangerous witness.” He cited her personal agenda in the proceedings and the risk that she could make prejudicial remarks capable of poisoning the jury’s judgment. It is rare for a judge to speak so bluntly about a witness, and the language left little doubt about how the court viewed her testimony.
Hayler’s defence team had pushed for the jury to be discharged after Price’s first day giving evidence. His barrister, Arlette Piercy, argued that parts of her testimony had unleashed an “overwhelming tsunami of prejudice” and amounted to a “premeditated attempt to bring down this trial.” The judge refused that application but warned the jury to set aside certain remarks. He also voiced concern that Price might volunteer further unprompted allegations if called back to the stand. When she did return, she was instructed to answer only the questions put to her, and the judge later observed that every additional minute she spent in the witness box created another opening for irrelevant and prejudicial statements. He noted too that discharging the jury would be unlikely to prevent similar problems if the case were retried.
During the trial, Hayler argued that Price had waged a campaign against him once their marriage broke down, and that the allegations were invented to damage his reputation. Price rejected the suggestion that she was angry and vengeful towards her former husband. Hayler told the court that trust between them had eroded by the middle of 2013. He admitted to affairs with three women during the relationship and claimed Price had also been unfaithful. He further suggested the allegations surfaced around a period when Price was grappling with other personal difficulties.
The jury also heard about messages exchanged between Price and the girl at the centre of the case. Hayler said he came across them in 2017 while searching Price’s phone for evidence of an affair. According to accounts of the trial, Price had messaged the girl suggesting that Hayler fancied her and had allegedly tried to make advances. In another message, she reportedly told the girl, “I will make you a little star.”
After the verdict, Hayler became emotional and bent over as he was told he could leave the dock. Speaking outside court, he thanked the jury for its careful consideration of what he called a difficult case, and expressed gratitude to his family and friends for standing by him through five years of absolute hell. He said he wanted to be left in peace now to rebuild his life and spend time with his family.
