Skaf gang rapist should get parole, says Margaret Cunneen
THE Skaf brothers’ gang rapes were described as being worse than murder. Now the woman who put them behind bars has revealed why one of them should be freed.
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EXCLUSIVE
THE prosecutor who put the notorious Skaf rape gang behind bars says one of them should now be freed because he has served enough time for crimes the judge described as worse than murder.
Margaret Cunneen SC told News Corp Australia she believed Mohammed Skaf — who was convicted along with his brother Bilal and other men over a series of gang rapes of teenagers in Sydney’s west in 2000 — should be paroled.
“I think it’s time he got out,” Ms Cunneen said of Mohammed.
“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.”
MORE: Bilal Skaf’s letter from prison begging for freedom
Mohammed Skaf begged to be paroled when he became eligible in January, but it was denied after a Corrective Services report said he still had no empathy with his victims.
Bilal Skaf will not be elible for parole until 2033 after being convicted of leading the rape gang, whose crimes the presiding judge Michael Finnane later described as being worse than murder.
Ms Cunneen’s comments come as she confirmed she was quitting as NSW’s Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor to take up private practice as a defence barrister next year.
She rose to prominence prosecuting the Skaf gang rapists in 2002 and has since built a reputation as a victims’ champion.
She said the idea of defending alleged rapists and murderers and cross-examining their victims in her role is something she considered carefully.
“I can’t say that’s not a difficult prospect,” she said.
“However, everyone has a story and it may be that some people have to see the sense in pleading guilty. Even their circumstances have to be brought to court in order for them to get a just sentence.”
In 28 years as a prosecutor, Ms Cunneen brought the weight of the law down on criminals including child molester Robert ‘Dolly’ Dunn, the ‘Butcher of Bega’ Graeme Stephen Reeves, and the collar bomb hoaxer Paul Peters.
THE SKAF BROTHERS IN-DEPTH
CHAPTER 1: Years on Bilal Skaf is still unrepentant
CHAPTER 2: ‘They sat in court laughing and joking’ - Margaret Cunneen
CHAPTER 3: Gang rapes had ‘military precision’ - Judge Finnane
CHAPTER 4: ‘I feared gang rapes would become a trend - Bob Carr
TIMELINE: How the month-long rampage unfolded
In 2012, Ms Cunneen investigated allegations of child sexual abuse against priests in the Hunter Valley as the government-appointed head of a special commission of inquiry.
She has been no stranger to controversy, drawing criticism from some as being too sympathetic to victims and fighting the Independent Commission Against Corruption over claims she perverted the course of justice by telling her son’s girlfriend to fake chest pains to avoid a police breath test after a car accident.
Ms Cunneen took the matter all the way to the High Court, which ruled ICAC had no power to investigate, and the case was dismissed.
As she contemplates representing the other side of criminal cases, Ms Cunneen has written the forword to Andrew L. Urban’s book, Murder by the Prosecution, which investigates what Mr Urban believes to be miscarriages of justice and wrongful conviction.
“Justice can be achieved from various roles in the criminal justice system. Sometimes I’ve been criticised for not seeing the other side enough so I think perhaps in the decade or so I have left in my working life I’ll bring whatever I can to that side (the defence),” said Cunneen.
In recent years, Cunneen has noticed an increase in cases going to trial without sufficient evidence, especially sexual assault.
“The pendulum may have drifted too far in favour of blindly accepting allegations without really checking them,” she said.
“The upshot of that is — a falsely accused man, usually, is acquitted, but why should he have to go through that if the case is flawed?
“In my working life I’ll bring whatever I can to that side (the defence),” she said.
Margaret Cunneen reveals why we are obsessed by crime stories in Sunday Book Club.