Former Home and Away actor sentenced to five years for sexual assault

Former Home and Away actor Martin Lynes has been sentenced to five years for sexually assaulting a woman.

The ex-soap actor, 50, was sentenced to half a decade but will only serve 2-and-a-half behind bars, after he was found guilty by a jury at Parramatta District Court, Greater Western Sydney.

Lynes, who assumed the role of Adam Sharpe on the Australian soap between 2012 and 2014 and star in late-1990s medical drama All Saints, stood accused of groping, biting, and attacking his victim during the incident which took place in 2016.

According to news.com.au, he was however found not guilty of ‘assault occasioning actual bodily harm’ and the charge of ‘having sexual intercourse without consent.’

Crown prosecutor Rebeka Court gave a graphic account of the attack, citing how he put ‘his hands over [the victim’s] mouth and around her throat and dug his fingers into her face.’

She went on to describe the attack: ‘When the complainant lay on the couch Lynes grabbed her by the head with both hands and started banging her head up and down on the couch.’

Lynes retired from acting after leaving the popular Oz soap and became an estate agent in his native Australia, and has always denied all the accusations against him.

He’s been held in prison since August of 2017 as he awaited trial, which means he may be eligible for parole as early as February of 2020.

The former actor has also been accused of raping a woman three times between the years of 2015 and 2016.

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