Judge Michael Finnane fears release of gang rapist Mohammed Skaf

The judge who jailed the notorious Skaf brother rapists for record prison terms said he is concerned that Mohammed Skaf has shown no remorse as he could be released as early as next month.

The judge who jailed the notorious Skaf brothers for record prison terms for their rapes of Sydney women said he is concerned Mohammed Skaf has shown no remorse as he could be released as early as next month.

“That could mean that he is a continuing threat,” former District Court judge Michael Finnane QC told The Daily Telegraph on Thursday.

Convicted rapist Mohammed Skaf.

Convicted rapist Bilal Skaf.

As the government comes under pressure to try and block his release, Mr Finnane said he had never “wavered” from his belief that his tough sentence of 32 years behind bars was warranted after the gang rapes of 2000.

At the time, the judge chillingly described the series of rapes as events “you hear about or read about only in the context of wartime atrocities”.

He labelled Mohammed Skaf, then 17, whose older brother Bilal was the ringleader, as a “vicious, cowardly bully, arrogant and a liar as well as being a rapist”.

The sentence was slashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal to 19 years with a non-parole period of 11 and Skaf was later sentenced to an additional 15 years, with a minimum of seven-and-a-half years over the second gang rape.

It meant a total of 22 years, 11 months and 30 days after appeal with a non-parole period of 16 years, 11 months and 30 days. His sentence is due to end on January 1, 2024.

Police surveillance video pictures of Lebanese gang rapists at Bondi Beach in 2000, including Mohammed Skaf (left) trying to drag away one of two unidentified girls who fortunately resisted going with the youths and man.

With a job offer and a supportive family who have been visiting him almost weekly, Mohammed Skaf is likely to get parole if he successfully completes a course called RUSH - Real Understanding of Self-Help - in Kirkconnell Correctional Centre near Bathurst, where he is a minimum security prisoner.

Opposition Attorney-General Michael Daley and rape victims have called for Skaf to serve his whole sentence.

But Mr Finnane said the community had to face the stark fact that Skaf’s sentence will end one day.

“Even if my original sentence were still in place, he would still be released eventually and that is what the community has to realise,” he said.

A Daily Telegraph front page.

A Daily Telegraph front page.

He said he had faith in the current head of the State Parole Authority, Judge David Frearson.

“The judge who heads the Parole Board is a very experienced and capable criminal lawyer and judge and I feel sure he will not lightly agree to the release of Mohammed Skaf,” Mr Finnane said.

“What concerns me is that according to reports of the Parole Board hearings, Mohammed Skaf has never expressed any remorse. That could mean that he is a continuing threat.

“However, he was clearly under the influence of his older brother, Bilal, who was the organiser of the rape attacks.

“Bilal was the clear leader. Without him, I doubt that Mohammed would prove to be much of a menace, but I say this without knowing the material before the Parole Board.”

Judge Michael Finnane QC has fears over Mohammed Skaf’s release due to the fact that he has not shown remorse. Picture: Craig Greenhill

Sexual assault victim Tracy Evans, 44, said she would never have gone to police and spoken up without seeing the courage of the victims of the Skaf gang.

“Someone has to make a noise to stop these people getting out. I am scared,” Ms Evans said.

After four trials, Bilal Skaf is now serving a total of 38 years, with a non-parole period of 32 years, after his original 55-year sentence was cut to a maximum 28 years.
The High Court then refused a Crown appeal.

The State Parole Authority has signalled its intention to release Mohammed Skaf on parole because the other option, which is day and weekend leave, has been blocked because of Covid.
They were told at their last hearing in August that after years of denying his victims had not consented, there had recently been a “shift in attitude” towards his crimes.

Gosling Park in Greenacre, where one of the gang rapes occurred in August 2000. Picture: Dan Peled

Former Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC, who prosecuted Skaf, said on Thursday that he should be paroled to be supervised in the community for two years before his sentence ends.

“Even murderers generally get parole,” Ms Cunneen said.

His release has been supported by the Serious Offenders Review Council and he will be electronically monitored and have to provide a daily schedule of his movements and meet other conditions.

The NSW Government, which is not blocking his release, has been asked for a comment.
The State of NSW cannot make an application for a special order to keep any prisoners in jail until they have nine months of their sentence left to serve.

Originally published as Judge Michael Finnane fears release of gang rapist Mohammed Skaf