Vile rapist, torturer Nicholas John Crilley appeals life sentence

A sadistic criminal will appeal his life sentence despite admitting to holding a woman captive for three weeks and brutally raping, torturing and disfiguring her. WARNING: GRAPHIC.

Nicholas John Crilley. Picture: Supplied

Sadistic criminal Nicholas John Crilley will appeal his life sentence after he was convicted of raping, torturing and permanently disfiguring a woman three years ago.

The former Queensland banker inflicted horrific acts on the woman including burning 46 per cent of her body with acetone, cigarettes and boiling water over 23 days at his Bulimba townhouse.

The drug-induced rape and torture was so horrendous, most was unable to be reported.

When Crilley finally decided to call Triple-0, he rang his friend and said: “I’ve hit her that hard that she can’t even talk, I poured methylated spirits onto her and set her alight, I have pummelled her so hard that I think she had a stroke. She can’t talk anymore”.

By the time paramedics arrived, the then 22-year-old woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was so badly disfigured, she appeared dead.

The depraved acts were also recorded by Crilley on his mobile phone, with sentencing Judge Anthony Rafter labelling the case as “deeply disturbing”.

Crilley was handed a life sentence on April 30, 2020 for seven charges including five counts of rape and two counts of malicious act with intent.

“You took pleasure in the infliction of pain. Your brutality took her to the edge of death,” Judge Rafter said at the time.

On Thursday, Crilley appealed both his sentence and convictions for only the rape charges which occurred at the Tower Mill Hotel in Spring Hill during the 23 days.

Nicholas John Crilley. Picture: Supplied

Mr Crilley represented himself via videolink before Justice Debra Mullins AO at the Brisbane Court of Appeal, informing the court he was still seeking Legal Aid funding to appeal the convictions.

Solicitor Chelsea Waters of Guest Lawyers will appear on behalf of Mr Crilley for his sentence appeal.

Prosecutor David Nardone will appear on behalf of the Crown.

A quietly confident Mr Crilley told the court that he had failed the merit test for Legal Aid funding but has resubmitted his request.

“I think that I have strong grounds to get funding for it,” he said.

Justice Mullins AO warned Mr Crilley that appeals were rarely successful after a person had pleaded guilty.

“Because you pleaded guilty before the judge who sentenced you, in order to succeed in an appeal against your conviction, you have to establish in this court that a miscarriage of justice took place when the court accepted your guilty pleas.

“And that’s quite a difficult hurdle to overcome.

“I’m sure around the prison they do talk about it, somebody succeeds in an appeal against a conviction … quite frankly there has to be exceptional circumstances.”

The matter was adjourned until Mr Crilley could provide the court an update on whether he is successful in gaining the funding to pay for legal representation.

“You really have to put your skates on and do something about pushing your application for Legal Aid,” Justice Mullins AO said.

If Mr Crilley does not gain funding from Legal Aid, he will represent himself in appealing his conviction.