By Emma Younger
Notorious murderer and rapist Adrian Bayley has won an appeal against a rape conviction, with his 43-year minimum jail term reduced to 40 years.
Bayley, 44, was serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher in 2012 when he was convicted of three subsequent rapes.
The Victorian Court of Appeal has upheld his appeal against one of those convictions, the rape of a sex worker in St Kilda in 2000.
The court heard the sex worker had made a statement to police after she identified Bayley as her attacker when she was looking at a missing persons page on Facebook for Ms Meagher in 2012.
The Court of Appeal ruled the victim’s identification evidence should not have been allowed at the jury trial as she had recognised Bayley from a single photograph taken 12 years after she was raped.
The court ruled it is also likely she already knew Bayley had been charged with the rape and murder of Ms Meagher.
The appeal judges found even less weight should have been given to the victim then identifying Bayley on a photo board made up by police after they had informed her he had been charged with her rape.
Top Comments
He himself said there should be a death sentence for men like him at his confession back in 2012. He knows he cannot and won't be cured. The best he knows is how to play the system.
Ugh, he needs to stay behind bars until he dies.