Entertainment

UK rapper accused of raping Aussie fan to face retrial

August 21, 2026 6:40 pm

British rapper Yung Filly (right). [Photo Credit: AAP Image/Aaron Bunch]

Australia will press for a scrupulous investigation into the death of slain humanitarian worker Zomi Frankcom after the Israeli government refused to apologise.

Ms Frankcom was killed in an attack on an aid convoy in April 2024 while working with colleagues to deliver food and basic supplies in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military announced on Thursday it had found there was no suspicion of criminal misconduct surrounding the Australian’s death, despite a previous finding that there had been failures in how it was carried out.

Not guilty verdicts were also returned for one charge of impeding the woman’s breathing by applying pressure to her neck and one count of assault occasioning bodily harm.

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The jury was hung on three other sexual penetration counts.

Barrientos returned to court on Friday, where prosecutor Danielle Clarke said the influencer would be retried for the three charges.

No date has been set for the retrial, and the performer remains on bail.

The case will return to the same court next week for a bail variance hearing.

Judge Linda Black asked the opposing legal teams to consider whether they want a new judge to hear the retrial and whether the proceedings should be heard by a jury or a judge alone.

Ms Clarke said the complainant in the case was willing to give her evidence again.

Barrientos’s trial heard that he was on his first tour of Australia when he met the woman in a nightclub VIP area.

Prosecutors alleged the performer got aggressive during consensual intercourse.

It was at this point that prosecutors said consensual sex stopped, triggering the six counts of sexual penetration without consent.

The assaults the musician was convicted of stem from Barrientos biting the woman’s face and neck.

He called them love bites and said they involved sucking and tongue movements, and his teeth came into contact with the woman’s skin.

The trial has halted the career of the Colombia-born South London singer and comedian.

As Yung Filly, he has featured in the BBC’s celebrity version of Bake Off and presented light entertainment programs including dating show Hot Property.