Yung Filly allowed to return to UK ahead of Australian retrial
Perth court allows Yung Filly to return to Britain while awaiting retrial on rape charges; assault convictions stand.
A Perth court has permitted British rapper and social media personality Yung Filly to return to the United Kingdom while he awaits a retrial on rape charges in Australia next year.
The 31-year-old entertainer, born Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos in Colombia, appeared before the District Court of Western Australia on Thursday. Judge Linda Black revised his bail conditions, allowing him to travel back to London until proceedings resume.
Barrientos was convicted by a jury last month of assaulting a woman in a Perth hotel room in September 2024. He was acquitted on three counts of rape, but prosecutors have announced plans to retry him on three additional rape charges on which the jury failed to reach a verdict.
Judge Black noted that while the retrial would be expedited and could take place in 2027, delays were possible. "It seems to me it is appropriate to return to his home country until he is needed for his retrial," she said.
Under the revised conditions, Barrientos must leave for Britain by August 31 and remain there until he returns to Perth for trial. He must arrive in Australia ten days before the retrial and surrender his passport within 24 hours of landing.
He is barred from contacting the alleged victim or a key prosecution witness, both of whom remain unnamed, and is prohibited from making any public comment on the case.
Sentencing for the two assault convictions, each carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison, will be deferred until the retrial concludes. Rape convictions carry a maximum of 14 years per count.
Barrientos was on an Australian tour, having performed in Sydney and Melbourne before the alleged incident in Perth. Prosecutors claim the woman initially consented to sex but withdrew consent over safety concerns. He was arrested days later in Brisbane, where the tour was scheduled to end.
He has remained free on bail since being charged and had previously been allowed to spend several months in Britain before the first trial.