A Hideous Crime !

 The laws that apply to terms of imprisonment are again in the news as a notorious rapist awaits a decision on when he will be granted parole.  Australia was horrified back in 2000 when a gang of young Middle East men were arrested and charged with luring schoolgirls to secluded spots where their compatriots were eagerly waiting to satisfy their sexual appetites with gang rape.

The leader was seventeen year old Mohammed Skaf and at his trial it was disclosed how his younger brother used his charm to convince unsuspecting schoolgirls to accompany him on a walk, to where the rapists waited.   These girls were insulted and humiliated, and threatened with death if they broke their silence.

Skaf was originally sentenced to 31 years jail, but this was reduced to 22 years on appeal and he was served with a non parole term of 18 years.  He is now making his fourth bid for parole after becoming eligible  three years ago.

Normally, a prisoner is granted day release to start the process of adjusting to civilian life, but the problem with Skaf is that he  is a denier who refuses to accept that his actions were a crime.  In his twisted mind, he blames the schoolgirls for their fate and this brings a much higher risk of him reoffending if he is released,

Unfortunately, as the law stands he will get automatic release when the final days of his sentence are served and it is inevitable that this rapist will one day walks the streets of Sydney having regained his freedom.

Skaf has spent most of his prison time in protective custody to guard against attack by other prisoners. To get parole he needs to convince the Serious Offenders Review Council that he has reformed. and it is quite clear this is missing.

We - as a society - now face a new ethical question ?   Should be pass a new law to extend indeterminate time in prison for prisoners who refuse to accept that they committed a crime and who are considered most likely to reoffend if released  ?

This was a crime that horrified the public and so enraged other prisoners that Skaf 's life was in mortal danger without protective custody.  The evidence given by schoolgirls of the insults levelled against their nationality as  they were stripped and gang raped in public parks was compelling.   There was a degree of sentiment to have the rapists executed.

Open ended sentences run against the tradition of law that an offender will serve a predetermined period of incarceration which will be weighed against the severity of the crime.  When we abandoned the death sentence we replaced that with " life imprisonment " as the ultimate sentence.

Perhaps there are circumstances where that " life sentence " should now apply !