The prosecutor who helped jail members of a gang who raped a teenage girl 40 times has now said one of the men deserves to be freed.
Margaret Cunneen said that convicted rapist Mohammed Skaf should be paroled after serving 17 years for a crime the judge described as ‘worse than murder’.
She said ‘it’s time he got out’ and believed he was a correct candidate for parole, The Daily Telegraph reported.
‘He’s done his time. He was 17 and not overly gifted in the intellect department, without being offensive to him, and he served 17 years, he served half his life for something in which he was rather easily led,’ she said.
Margaret Cunneen said that convicted rapist Mohammed Skaf (pictured) should be paroled after serving 17 years for a crime the judge described as ‘worse than murder’
Margaret Cunneen (pictured) was one of the prosecutors who helped jail the Skaf Gang in 2002
Mohammed Skaf was up for parole in January of this year but it was denied after a report submitted by Corrective Services said he had shown no remorse for his crimes.
His brother Bilal Skaf will not be eligible for parole until 2033.
That group, which became known as the ‘Skaf gang’ after their leader, Bilal Skaf, went on a 20-day rampage in which four young women were violated in three pack rapes shortly before the 2000 Olympics.
One of the victims, an 18-year-old woman, was raped 40 times by 14 men over four hours in an attack coordinated by mobile phone. She was then dumped at a train station after being hosed down.
During her ordeal the woman was called an ‘Aussie pig’, told she was going to get it ‘Leb-style’ and asked if ‘Leb c*** tasted better than Aussie c***’.
Many of the rapists have never been identified and police fear there were more victims who did not come forward.
Mohammed Skaf lured a 16-year-old girl to a park in Greenacre in August 2000 after convincing her he would drive her to look at the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Instead, she was met by him and two men she didn’t know, with each of them pressuring her to have sex with them.
When she refused, Mohammed Skaf called his brother, Bilal, who arrived in a van with 11 other men, who would never be identified.
They dragged her to the middle of the park and ripped off her clothes, before Bilal and one of the men raped her while others laughed at her.
She eventually broke free and was rescued by a passer-by.
He said the actions of the men constituted a criminal conspiracy ‘involving two groups of men, that was carefully coordinated by mobile phones’ (pictured are members of the Skaf gang)
Judge Michael Finnane, QC, who oversaw the trial, wrote about the case in his book The Pursuit of Justice and said it was ‘startlingly different’ to many other rape cases he had seen.
He said the actions of the men constituted a criminal conspiracy ‘involving two groups of men, that was carefully coordinated by mobile phones’.
‘When I came to reflect on the facts of this trial, I again found myself wondering what it was that caused Bilal Skaf and the others with him to behave in such a depraved and violent fashion against a completely helpless girl,’ he wrote.
‘What is still difficult for me to understand is why this serious criminal conspiracy involving so many young men was launched. There was no obvious reason. Unlike many of the rape cases of which I am aware.’
‘I consider my sentences imposed on the members of this gang were warranted. Not one of them showed that fear of criminal proceedings or of jail was ever in their minds. They made very little attempt to cover their tracks.’
Then Labor premier Bob Carr said the original 55-year sentence would send a strong message.
‘It was certainly a headline grabber, it met community expectations, it sent a powerful message to any punk with violent tendencies on the margins of gang activity that this was very dangerous behaviour,’ he said at the time.
However other legal experts felt the sentences were not justified because rehabilitation was not considered, an assertion Mr Finanne rejected out of hand.
It remains to be seen if the endorsement of parole from the prosecuting lawyer will help Mohammed Skaf’s cause at his next parole hearing.
Mohammed Skaf’s brother Bilal Skaf (pictured) will not be eligible for parole until 2033