Kieran Hayler, the former husband of media personality Katie Price, was cleared by a jury of raping a 13-year-old girl. The verdict was delivered at Lewes Crown Court on 22 October 2026, as reported by BBC News.
Hayler, 39, stood trial on three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault over alleged offences against the girl in West Sussex in 2016, during his marriage to Price. The jury returned not guilty verdicts on all four counts. He was also found not guilty on four alternative counts of sexual activity with a child.
Jury deliberations and Hayler’s response
The jury, comprising four men and six women, reached its verdicts following 14 hours and 55 minutes of deliberations. Hayler became visibly emotional when the verdicts were announced and he was permitted to leave the dock.
Speaking outside court, Hayler thanked the jury and his friends and family ‘who have stood by me for five years of absolute hell’. He added: ‘I would like to be left in peace now to rebuild my life and spend time with my family.’
Hayler had denied all allegations during the trial, telling the jury he regarded them as fabricated. He told the court that Price had ‘launched a campaign’ against him, and that the allegations were bound up in that campaign following the breakdown of their marriage. He also told the trial that ‘trust had gone on both sides’ of his marriage to Price by mid-2013, and admitted to affairs with three other women during their relationship.
Price’s evidence at trial
Price denied being ‘angry and vengeful’ towards her former husband. She also stated in evidence that ‘I don’t have any venom against Kieran’ and that their separation had been ‘amicable’.
On 13 October 2026, during earlier proceedings, BBC News reported that Price was cross-examined by defence lawyer Arlette Piercy, who put it to her that she was ‘angry and vengeful towards the defendant Kieran Hayler’ and had ‘evidenced a vendetta against him over a number of years’. Price replied: ‘That is not true.’
Piercy also asked Price whether she ‘loved revenge or is it just TV?’. Price responded: ‘It’s TV, it’s what I say. It’s what drives me in my work.’
The court also heard that Price had messaged the teenage girl, asking: ‘Did he kiss you? I won’t bring up anymore just want truth. I will make you a little star.’ Price told the court the phrase ‘little star’ was ‘a figure of speech’.
The couple parted ways in 2018 and their divorce was finalised in 2021.
