Singer Jacob Hoggard (38), who enjoyed great success with his pop rock band Hedley shortly after the turn of the millennium, has been sentenced to five years in prison by a court in Toronto, Canada. The court found the musician guilty in June of this year of sexually assaulting a woman in his hotel room in 2016. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a possible sentence of 14 years in prison was possible. Prosecutors had asked for between six and seven years, while Hoggard's attorneys had asked for a maximum of three to four years.

According to the report, Hoggard has already appealed the verdict. In addition to the prison sentence, the victim has also demanded payment of the equivalent of around two million US dollars in another lawsuit, it is said. Further alleged assaults by the musician against another woman, who had also made allegations, were not included in the court's judgment.

Hoggard had pleaded not guilty to both counts. Shortly before the verdict was announced, it also became known that the musician would have to answer in court in a third case of sexual violence at a later date.

Hedley announced an indefinite hiatus in 2018 after allegations that some band members had sexually assaulted young female fans, some allegedly underage. The band then described the allegations as unfounded, but withdrew from the public.

Shortly thereafter, management ended the collaboration before Jacob Hoggard was separately accused of sexual assault by a woman. That allegation was now punished with a five-year prison sentence.

The band was particularly successful in their Canadian homeland between 2005 and 2017. Of the seven studio albums, the first five all went platinum, the debut "Hedley" and record number three, "The Show Must Go", even double platinum.