A judge has been asked to show ‘some leniency’ to a notorious Skaf pack rapist who walked out of jail only to deal in $120,000 worth of the drug ice.
Mohamed Ghanem, 35, was Bilal Skaf’s ‘enthusiastic lieutenant’ during the Skaf gang’s reign of terror in Sydney prior to the 2000 Olympics. Ghanem was jailed for 14 years over the depraved rape of two schoolgirls, 16 and 17, in a suburban park with his friends.
He was freed on parole and had a year left on his sentence when police caught him supplying almost one kilogram of the drug ice to a Brisbane businessman in late 2017.
Ghanem’s barrister, Avni Djemal, today told a sentencing hearing at the New South Wales District Court that ‘some leniency for this offender in this circumstance could be warranted’.
‘He grew up in jail,’ Mr Djemal told Judge Donna Woodburne SC. ‘(The) elephant in the room in respect of this, he’s still paying for that offence in many ways.’
Skaf gang rapist and ice dealer Mohamed Ghanem, 35, as he appeared in the NSW District Court on Wednesday morning
Ghanem sat between his two co-offenders, perfume businessman Kamal Eljamal and mechanic Hussein Sarhan, in a wrinkled white dress shirt.
He appeared mostly expressionless, waving at relatives after Mr Djemal said his client had been ‘struggling’ with his notoriety outside jail.
Before his latest arrest, he had found it difficult to get a job for several months, the court was told.
‘Obviously people in the public will always have a view when they find out the name and what you’ve been linked to, but he’s been struggling with that right through’.
Mr Djemal said a pre-sentencing report found a ‘nexus between this offending and the circumstances of his institutionalisation that’s occurred’ in jail.
Mr Djemal said ‘in the long run’, it may be better for his client to ‘reintegrate’ into the community, rather than spend another lengthy term in jail. He said Ghanem is at a ‘crossroads’ in his life, at age 34, and having spent the vast majority of his adult life in jail.
HIs record gives him no leniency
Counsel for the prosecution MItchell Paish
‘What I’m going to be asking for Your Honour, in light of all these things – that he should be entitled to some leniency.
‘It’s a long time ago and it’s a very different offence to what he’s (here for) now.’
Later in the hearing, he said Ghanem’s previous offence was ‘completely different, chalk and cheese’ to his drug charge.
‘He thought he’d never ever be in this position again having done so much time in jail.’
But barrister Mitchell Paish, for the Crown, argued: ‘His record gives him no leniency.
‘Yes, he spent a long time in jail because, quite frankly, he warranted a long time in jail.
Smirking mugshot: Mohamed Ghanem was an ‘enthusiastic lieutenant’ of pack rape ringleader Bilal Skaf when he was a teenager
Police surveillance captures Mohamed Ghanem (far right) with fellow Skaf rapists Mahmoud Chami (left) and Belal Hajeid in 2000
The prosecutor argued his offending was ‘significantly aggravated’ by the fact he was on parole at the time of his offence.
‘Yes, he may have matured in jail. And he understood jail (and the burden of it)… yet he, without duress, without force, without strong persuasion, became involved in this significant commercial transaction, against a backdrop of knowing full well the consequences,’ Mr Paish said.
Ghanem told a psychologist he ‘fell under the spell’ of his co-accused, Hussein Sarhan; and knew he was on his last chance with his brother and sister-in-law. But he was no naive mule, Mr Paish told the court.
‘Thirty-four years, having spent 15 inside – he’s not the naive 17-year-old (he was) … he was worldly and engaged.’
Ghanem will be sentenced in July.
The bag of methylamphetamine seized by cops from Hussein Sarhan, Mohamed Ghanem’s co-accused, in a police sting
‘THE BMW OR THE MERCEDES?’ MOHAMED GHANEM’S DRUG DEAL – AND THE TELEPHONE CALLS THAT BROUGHT HIM UNDONE
Court facts said Ghanem returned to his life of crime in November 2017 – while living just around the corner from the park where his heinous pack rape occurred.
The Skaf gang rapist arranged a drug deal on the phone with Brisbane businessman Hussein Sarhan, not realising detectives were listening.
The pair discussed the purchase of 993 grams of methylamphetamine and had no idea police had seen through the clever code words they used to dsecribe drugs.
In telephone intercepts, police document how Ghanem asked Hussein: ‘Do you want the BMW or the Mercedes? The Mercedes right?
His co-conspirator replied: ‘The Mercedes, the Mercedes whose type is that same light grey, nice.’
About a month after their first phone call, Ghanem handed over a bag of the illicit drug to Sarhan at a Bankstown motel.
But as Sarhan began the long drive back to Brisbane he was pulled over by highway patrol police.
His car was suddenly surrounded by undercover police cars and the vehicles collided.
But Sarhan gave up after smashing his own car and several police vehicles.
Hussein Sarhan is arrested by police on November 27, 2017. He accelerated his BMW into unmarked cars as officers prepared to swoop
Sarhan’s damaged BMW 4WD after he rammed police
Police searched Sarhan’s car as he denied that there were any drugs inside, the agreed facts sheet said.
He then blamed Ghanem for what police would find in the boot.
‘Some mine some Mohamed. I send it to Brisbane for him,’ he told police.
Police then pulled a clear plastic bag filled with a crystalline substance – methylamphetamine – out of a sports bag.
Meanwhile, the facts sheet said Sarhan denied knowing what ‘ice’ was.
Ghanem was remanded in custody, joining Bilal Skaf and his brother Mohammed as the only Skaf rapists still behind bars.
Bilal Skaf (pictured) was originally sentenced to a record 55 years imprisonment after leading a gang of men in four pack rapes in the year 2000. Ghanem took part in one attack only
His brother Mohammad Skaf also remains behind bars