Andres Barrientos, known as UK YouTuber and rapper Yung Filly, has been found not guilty of raping a woman at a hotel after a concert in Perth in 2024, while a jury convicted him of two counts of assault causing bodily harm. The same jury also found him not guilty of another two charges alleging he slapped and choked the woman, and it failed to reach a verdict on three further counts of rape, leaving state prosecutors to decide whether to pursue a retrial.
Barrientos, 30, has not been able to leave Australia without court permission since he was charged with the violent sexual assault of the 20-year-old woman in a hotel after a nightclub concert in 2024. He wept after the verdict was handed down and is due to return to court next month ahead of sentencing for the assault charges, which relate to allegations that he bit the woman's cheek, neck and breast. The machinery of the court keeps moving. The rest of the story belongs to the people forced through it.
Who Gets Heard First
The woman, who cannot be identified, testified that she had consensual sex with Barrientos, someone she described as her favourite celebrity and "future husband". The court heard the encounter then turned violent, and Barrientos anally raped her without her consent, an accusation for which he has now been acquitted. Her account sat at the center of the trial, while the legal system sorted through charges, verdicts and the possibility of another round if prosecutors choose to go again.
In her closing submissions, prosecutor Danielle Clarke told the jury the victim was credible, reliable and honest in her evidence. Clarke showed graphic photos of injuries to the woman's face and neck which Barrientos inflicted. She said that if the jury could be satisfied the swelling or bruising was caused by slaps, then the sex from that point forward was non-consensual. Clarke told the jury "he did exactly what he wanted, how he wanted, when he wanted" and "She meant absolutely nothing to him," Ms Clarke said.
The Courtroom as a Controlled Space
During the trial, someone recorded a video of Barrientos in the courtroom through a window and posted it on social media. On Monday, Judge Linda Black ordered that it be taken down. The window was papered over, secured with tape, and a separate room was set up for members of the public to watch proceedings. Only lawyers, court security, family members, accredited media and those on a list provided by counsel could enter the courtroom where the trial was being held. Order, here, meant gates, lists and tape.
On Wednesday, Judge Black advised the jury to ignore anyone outside the court building supporting Yung Filly, who may have been holding signs. She said there were "idiots outside carrying placards" who had no respect for the court. "Treat them with the disdain they deserve," the judge said. Edwardson told the court they were not helping his client, and he later spoke to one person who had been holding a 'Free Yung Filly' sign. Soon afterwards, there was a fight outside the courthouse. On Thursday, the courtroom for public viewing of proceedings was closed after an order from the judge.
What the Lawyers Said
Barrientos's lawyer David Edwardson suggested the police investigation was not impartial and asked the jury to consider differences in evidence given by the victim and her cousin about events following the incident. Edwardson said the "acts of sexual violence did not happen" and that sex with groupies on tour was a fact of life. He suggested there was an explanation for the woman's allegations against his client, who she once said was her "idol". The woman admitted she initially thought of a relationship with him as having a "David and Victoria Beckham future". "Hopes pitched that high have a long way to fall," Edwardson said. "Andres Barrientos was not her knight in shining armour," he told the jury.
Barrientos was in the middle of an Australian tour at the time. He was arrested in Brisbane and flown back to Perth to face the charges. He had been hosting a show at the Bar1 Nightclub in Hillarys before going to the InterContinental hotel in Perth's CBD with the woman and his entourage in September 2024. Born in Colombia in 1995 but raised in the UK, Yung Filly's social media videos have amassed millions of views. In 2017, he released his first single as a rapper and has since notched two UK Top 40 hits. State prosecutors will now decide whether to try him again on the unresolved rape counts, while the court prepares to sentence him on the assault convictions next month.