Prison van that crashed at Wacol was carrying dangerous rapist

A dangerous sex offender involved in the violent rape of a tourist and the savage bashing of her friend was among those rushed to hospital after a prison vehicle crash in Brisbane’s west.

A dangerous sex offender involved in the violent rape of a tourist and the savage bashing of her friend was taken to hospital after the prison vehicle he was travelling in was involved in a serious crash.

Andrew Steven Barlow, who in 2018 had appeared in court 38 times for 73 charges, was in the vehicle with two correctional officers when it crashed on Wacol Station Rd in Brisbane’s west on Monday morning.

Critical care paramedics and a Queensland Ambulance Service High Acuity Response Unit crew rushed to the scene and it is understood the driver had to be cut from the vehicle.

Barlow, who is subject to a 10-year supervision order under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act, and the officers were taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital for treatment.

All three have since been released.

Barlow’s offending began in the early 2000s.

Several years later, he returned to court charged with a number of offences, including sexual assault, after groping a female bike rider.

In 2009, Barlow, his mother and sister, were involved in a brutal attack on two Norwegian tourists.

The scene of the crash on Monday. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The two women, in their 30s, had been in Cairns for less than 24 hours when a taxi driver dropped them at the wrong caravan park after a night out.

Lost and disorientated, the women knocked on the door of a cabin and asked for directions.

“The respondent’s teenage sister led them a short distance away and then savagely attacked them,” a court document detailed.

“She was joined in the attack by (Barlow) and his mother.

“Ultimately, one woman was beaten unconscious and after her clothes were ripped from her body, (Barlow) digitally raped her.”

The court document said that after he attacked one woman, he climbed on top of the other and sexually assaulted her.

The women managed to escape after regaining consciousness.

“The sentencing judge noted that the violence and savagery of that evening has left lasting consequences on both victims, one of whom required surgery and ongoing treatment for serious physical injuries including dental surgery and a disc prolapse,” the document said.

The sentencing judge described the rape as cowardly, brutal and degrading” and the attack as “an episode of sustained and ferocious violence”.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison.