Younger brother of gang rapists on cocaine charge
As the family of the Skaf gang rape brothers prepares for one member to return after 20 years in prison, a younger brother has been charged with a drug offence.
EXCLUSIVE
As the family of the Skaf gang rape brothers prepare their house for the return of one of them after 20 years in prison, a younger brother has been charged with a drug offence.
Hadi Skaf, who was a 10-month-old infant when his older brothers Bilal and Mohammed Skaf went on their infamous gang rape rampage, has been charged with driving under the influence of cocaine.
Hadi, 21, has pleaded not guilty to one count of driving 30km/h above the speed limit and one count of driving while having the illicit drug, cocaine, in his system.
The youngest of the Skaf family’s four children, Hadi lives at the southwestern Sydney home which is being renovated ahead of his 37-year-old brother Mohammed’s possible prison release.
Police allege Hadi Skaf speeded at 116km/h on the M5 East Motorway at Mascot at 11.23pm on May 10 “while there was present in his oral fluid a prescribed illicit drug, to wit, cocaine”.
The charge is listed as the first alleged offence for Hadi, who calls himself “Mista Hadi” on social media, appears to be a soccer fan, like his elder brother Bilal, and a car and bike enthusiast.
At the Skaf family home yesterday, it appeared that the brothers’ parents Mustapha and Baria had been undertaking renovation works which included a granny flat in the back yard.
Baria Skaf told news.com.au she “was not allowed to say anything” to the media about her son’s parole application.
RELATED: Gang rapist Mohammed Skaf refused parole for third time
Mohammed Skaf, who has served 20 years in prison, is making a fourth bid for release on parole next week.
Mohammed is serving a maximum almost 23 year sentence for a four-week reign of terror just before the 2000 Olympics with older brother Bilal leading the notorious Skaf rape gang.
Along with other young Middle Eastern Australians, Bilal and Mohammed raped and degraded young women they called “Aussie pigs” who they forced into “doing it Leb style”.
The NSW State Parole Authority (SPA) is meeting on November 6 to consider a Serious Offender Review Council (SORC) decision of whether or not to release Mohammed.
In February this year, SPA knocked back Mohammed’s third jail release application since 2017, after accepting a SORC recommendation.
SORC ruled that “releasing Skaf to parole was inappropriate as he needs to participate in an external leave program”.
In January 2001, Mohammed Skaf was sentenced to 22 years 11 months 30 days with a non-parole period of 16 years 11 months and 30 days, which expires in January 2024.
His brother Bilal, whose original 55 year sentence was reduced to 31 years, will not be eligible for parole until 2033.
The men’s much younger siblings, Hadi and his sister who were an infant and a toddler at the time of the gang’s October 2000 arrests, have lived most of their lives seeing their brothers in prison visit rooms.
RELATED: K brothers gang rapists: One of four brothers could walk from jail
Baria and Mustapha, a well-regarded veteran State Rail worker at the time of his sons’ offences, regularly took the younger children to visit their incarcerated brothers in Goulburn jail.
Mustapha had helped Bilal get a part-time railway job in July 2000, just before the rapes took place.
Both Lebanese-born immigrants, the Skaf parents have worked hard to buy a family home, Mrs Skaf as an aged-care worker, cleaner and more recently a driving instructor.
Bilal had played soccer and won karate trophies as a schoolboy before leaving school at 14 to become a spray painter and then embarking on a rape spree following a visit to his parents’ native Lebanon.
In 2002, Mrs Skaf was banned from visiting her son in prison after she was caught trying to smuggle two letters written by Bilal to his then girlfriend, with two prison maps he had drawn.
Security cameras in Goulburn’s Supermax caught Mrs Skaf concealing letters in her sock.
Mrs Skaf, who was never charged with anything, later apologised to prison officers, saying her intention was to deliver her son’s love letters to his then fiancee.
Hadi Skaf will face a hearing next year on the alleged charges of speeding and drug driving.
His brother Mohammed’s parole application hearing on December 6 will be a closed meeting with SPA to release its decision at a later date.
In other cases involving serious offenders, SORC has sought to release them on parole for a time so that they can be supervised in the community while adjusting to normal lawful life.