Bilal Skaf - Gang Rapes

Gang Rapes

Skaf was engaged at the time of his arrest but although his fiancée stood by him during his trial, she ended their engagement soon after his conviction. Skaf's response was to sketch cartoons depicting his former fiancée being raped and murdered. Since he was first charged in November 2000, Skaf has remained unrepentant. During his trial he claimed he was involved only in cases of consensual sex, laughed when his verdict was read and swore at the judge when he received his sentence.

On 16 September 2005, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal reduced Skaf's 55 year sentence to a maximum of 28 years, with parole available after 22 years. The NSW Attorney-General Bob Debus, decided that the government would seek leave for an appeal to the High Court of Australia against the sentence reduction. An earlier appeal had already reduced his sentence to 46 years, after a successful appeal against one of his convictions.

On 3 February 2006 the High Court refused leave to appeal, arguing that the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal had been left with no choice because of the many errors by the trial judge in sentencing Skaf to 46 years. That meant Skaf could be freed at the age of 42 in 2023. A further appeal led to a 31-year sentence being imposed. Bilal Skaf will now be eligible for release on 11 February 2033.

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Famous quotes containing the word gang:

    We owe to genius always the same debt, of lifting the curtain from the common, and showing us that divinities are sitting disguised in the seeming gang of gypsies and peddlars.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)