Danushka Gunathilaka returns home after 11 months

Danushka Gunathilaka returning to Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka is finally returning home from Australia after 11 months having been found not guilty by a Sydney Court on a sexual assault case.

Gunathilaka who faced a Judge-only trial at the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney was expected to arrive in Sri Lanka last night.

Gunathilaka pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual assault without consent. The charge related to an incident on 2 November last year when it is alleged the 32-year-old removed a condom while having sex – known as stealthing – with a woman at her home in Sydney’s east.

Gunathilaka was arrested in the early hours of 6 November at the Hyatt Regency, where the Sri Lankan cricket team was staying at the time for the T20 World Cup.

Although initially several charges were filed against Gunathilaka, including rape, all other charges were dropped aside from one. 

Issuing the verdict on the single charge against the Sri Lankan cricketer, Judge Sarah Huggett said the cricketer was found not guilty of sexual assault.