James Hayward: Dumped WA upper house MP has child sex charges dropped, blasts ‘botched prosecution’

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James Hayward: Dumped WA upper house MP has child sex charges dropped, blasts ‘botched prosecution’

The former WA Nationals MP who won an appeal against his convictions for child sex crimes will not face a retrial after the charges were dropped.

James Hayward was found guilty in August 2023 of directing a young girl to indecently touch him on two occasions when she was aged between six and eight in January 2019 and November 2021.

He was handed a term of two years and nine months, and booted out of Parliament.

Last month he won an appeal against his convictions and was granted bail ahead of a retrial.

And at a trial listing hearing in the District Court of WA on Friday, the case was discontinued.

In a statement, Mr Hayward said he was thankful and relieved that his ordeal had “finally come to an end”.

“Every man in this State should be terrified by what has happened to me,” he said.

“Men are under siege, you simply cannot defend yourself against this type of accusation.

“I have been subjected to a sustained and relentless attack on my character.”

Camera IconJames Hayward and his wife Lee arrive at the District Court for an earlier hearing. He thanked his family “for their unwavering support”. Credit: Nic Ellis/The West ***********

He said the State had recognised he did not receive a fair trial and in light of this, had “chosen to walk away”.

“The botched prosecution was doomed from the start,” the father of six wrote.

“It was marred by neglect, poor judgment, prejudice and political interference.

“Both the police and prosecutors failed me, failed my family, failed the community and failed the complainant.”

In his appeal application, he claimed the judge presiding over a hearing before the trial had failed to exclude evidence that he said had been “obtained unfairly”.

The West *********** understands the issue relates to how the child witness interview — a key part of the State’s case against him — was carried out.

After his previous trial listing hearing, the 55-year-old said he would ask State Parliament to “reinstate” him “to allow me to return to Parliament under parliamentary privilege and have a valedictory speech”.

“And in that hour, I intend to say some things that people may not want to hear, but they’re important things that need to be said, and they need to be said under parliamentary privilege,” Mr Hayward told reporters.

The former TV producer spent 410 days behind bars and described his incarceration as “terrible”.

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