Shaun Bloomfield and Luke Merryfull escape further jail time

A bid to have harsher sentences imposed on two men who raped a woman in a caravan after she refused to have sex with them has been knocked back.

Luke Merryfull (left) and Shaun Bloomfield (right).

A bid to have harsher sentences imposed on two men who raped a woman in a caravan after she refused to have sex with them has been knocked back in the Supreme Court.

The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the sentences handed to Luke Merryfull, of Highton, and his friend Shaun Bloomfield, of Horsham, on the basis they were inadequate, but was unsuccessful.

Bloomfield, 29 and Merryfull, 28 were at a party with the victim at a rural property in April 2016.

The woman went to sleep in a caravan at about 3am found herself alone with the two men.

Merryfull suggested they have a threesome, but the woman said no.

Bloomfield then raped the woman digitally.

Merryfull raped the woman and after he was finished, said to Bloomfield words to the effect of ‘she’s all yours now’ before leaving the caravan.

Bloomfield then raped the victim.

The pair was jailed in 2019 but had their convictions overturned the following year after a witness came forward with new evidence.

Having each spent 522 days behind bars, the men went on to face three retrials until a jury found Bloomfield guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault and Merryfull guilty of one count of rape in August last year.

Luke Merryfull who was convicted of raping a friend at a 21st birthday party in 2016, at County Court Victoria. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

Merryfull was placed on a two year community corrections order, while Bloomfield was placed on a three year community corrections order.

They were both sentenced to 19 months jail, but the men, who were 28 at time of sentencing in April this year, escaped further jail time as a result of time already served.

The DPP submitted too much weight was given to the respondents’ rehabilitation during the seven-year delay.

On Friday, Justice Karin Emerton, Justice Cameron Macaulay and Justice Lesley Taylor dismissed an application by the DPP.

Although the court found the sentences to be “very lenient”, they were unable to conclude that the sentences were “inadequate”.

The DPP argued that there was no evidence of reformation in respect of the risk of committing further sexual offences as neither respondent accepted responsibility for the offending.

They also argued that the sentencing judge also placed too much weight on the unfairness of delay.

Shaun Bloomfield. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

In handing down their decision, the Court of Appeal said Bloomfield and Merryfull had resisted any negative influence from the custodial environment.

“Neither further offended in the period before or after that incarceration. Upon release each obtained and retained employment,” they said.

The decision also revealed Bloomfield and Merryfull had tried to establish themselves as community minded and law-abiding citizens.

“The seven year delay has spanned most of the respondents’ 20s, a decade in which it can normally be expected that maturity in thought and behaviour is particularly acquired,” it said.

“In short, there is nothing in the reasons nor in the sentences imposed that indicate the judge placed too much weight on the issue of delay.”

Originally published as Shaun Bloomfield and Luke Merryfull escape further jail time