Muslim Rapist Set Free
Terp Mole has alerted us to the following in which one of the members involved in the Bilal Skaf rape case has been released. You might recall that this is the rape incident that Australian cleric Sheik Hilali was alluding to when he made his now infamous sermon about women as uncovered meat.
Freedom for gang rapist who faced two trials
Jordan Baker Chief Police Reporter | July 3, 2007
Brisbane Times
ONE of the men convicted over the rapes perpetrated by the Bilal Skaf gang has walked free from prison, a year after he was refused parole.
The Department of Corrective Services said the man, who cannot be named, had been released last Tuesday. His non-parole period ended last year, but the State Parole Authority refused to release him, saying he had “failed to address offending behaviour issues”.
The man, now 23, was originally sentenced in 2002 to a minimum of nine years and a maximum 15 for the rape and abduction of an 18-year-old woman. His sentence was shorter than those of other gang members because Judge Michael Finnane said that while he had shown no contrition, he had some prospect of rehabilitation.
The following November the man was involved in a three-hour siege at Kariong Juvenile Justice Centre. He armed himself with a broken broom handle. His punishment – a three-month concurrent sentence handed down by Gosford Local Court – was described as farcical by the NSW opposition at the time.
In 2004 he was granted a retrial on the rape and detention charges by the Court of Criminal Appeal. The court ruled he had suffered a miscarriage of justice as a result of his trial being held straight after his co-accused, creating an atmosphere of hostility.
At his second trial he pleaded guilty and was jailed for a maximum of eight years and six months, with a non-parole period of four years and six months.
