Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction has been overturned by New York’s top court, on the basis that he did not receive a fair trial.

The New York Court of Appeals found that prosecutors were allowed to call witnesses whose accusations were not part of the trial.

The ruling said that meant he was tried on past behaviour and not solely on the crimes he was charged with.

Weinstein, 72, will remain in prison for a separate conviction for rape.

The New York court reached its decision on Thursday 4-3, stating:”Order reversed and a new trial ordered”.

The Weinstein case was one of the most prominent to arise from the #MeToo movement, which exposed sexual abuse and misbehaviour at the highest levels of the Hollywood film industry and beyond.

His conviction, heralded by activists as a landmark, was first heard by New York’s Court of Appeals in February.

He faced two trials: in New York, where he was jailed for 23 years in 2020 for raping two women; and in California, where he sentenced to 16 years for raping a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel.