<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An NRL player at the centre of a perjury case against a former police officer believes the sentence handed to the ex-cop should have been harsher.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Known as Officer A for legal reasons, he was today given a one-year intensive corrections order, similar to a suspended jail sentence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The officer pleaded guilty to lying in evidence given during the high-profile rape trial of then-St George player Jack de Belin and co-accused Callan Sinclair in 2020.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/christopher-webster-doctor-erin-patterson-case-sanctioned/6b60e2f6-7b4a-4883-8338-699b90496d95" target="_blank"><strong><span>Doctor who blew whistle on mushroom murderer sanctioned</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was obviously a little bit light, but it is what it is," de Belin said outside Wollongong District Court following the sentence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What's kept Cal and myself so strong throughout this is our innocence."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officer A lied in the rape trial about what he found in text messages between de Belin and a contact saved as "Craig Lawyer" that were contained on a Nokia mobile phone.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/nrl-player-jack-de-belin-bemused-by-cops-perjury-sentence/1d38663f-4fab-433a-8823-33d33e4dc1e5" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/new-zealand-man-issued-ticket-for-eight-second-car-park/5769995d-ed51-4c93-972a-0eef68d12198" target="_blank"><strong><span>'Obscene': Driver given ticket for 'eight seconds' in parking spot</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He falsely testified the texts only contained "Dragons business" despite knowing they likely contained privileged conversations between the player and his lawyer Craig Osborne.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>First charged in December 2018, de Belin and Sinclair faced two trials before charges were dropped by prosecutors in mid-2021.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The case cruelled the forward's career despite his legal efforts to challenge the NRL's controversial no-fault stand-down rule that sidelined him for several years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite the perjury offence being serious because of the ex-officer's senior position, Judge Christine Mendes found his significant mental health problems lessened the severity of the sentence required.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He is a highly fragile, broken man," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/earthquake-strikes-off-russia-coast-tsunami-warnings/97051698-3940-4e03-9870-587bb90ee815" target="_blank"><strong><span>Tsunami warnings after huge Russian quake</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The officer had been showing clear signs of undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder for several years leading up to giving the false evidence in February 2020, the judge found.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Officer A did not seek professional treatment until Feb 2020 ... he was clearly unwell and suffering," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The judge rejected the prosecution argument the officer had a sophisticated and well-thought-out plan to commit perjury.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>De Belin and Sinclair denied sexually assaulting a then-19-year-old woman in December 2018, arguing they had a consensual threesome.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The woman alleged she was attacked by de Belin in a North Wollongong unit and then cried as the men took turns assaulting her.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A Wollongong jury was discharged less than two days into its deliberations in November 2020, having told the court it could "absolutely not" reach a verdict on any charges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A Sydney jury, hearing the case in mid-2021, spent more than a week before it too became stuck on nearly all charges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It acquitted de Belin and Sinclair of one charge each, relating to an incident the NRL player testified was accidental, and prosecutors dropped the remaining charges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sinclair's father Terry Sinclair told reporters today he believed police had been motivated by a "blatant and concerted" effort to convict a high-profile footballer.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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