Hoggard denied bail as he seeks appeal

Ex-Hedley singer serving five years for sexual assault

- BETSY POWELL

Jacob Hoggard, 40, was convicted in 2022 of sexual assault causing bodily harm.

Former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard will remain behind bars after a judge Friday rejected his request for bail while he tries to appeal his sexual assault conviction to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Hoggard, now 40, was convicted by a jury in 2022 of sexual assault causing bodily harm for attacking an Ottawa woman in a Toronto hotel room in 2016.

He was sentenced to five years in prison, which he only began serving last month after the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction.

“At this stage in the proceedings, where the applicant’s conviction has been unanimously affirmed by this court and it appears unlikely that he will be granted leave to appeal (by the Supreme Court), I am satisfied that the public interest in enforcing the sentence imposed on the applicant outweighs his interest in a second review of his conviction,” Justice Jill Copeland wrote in her decision released Friday.