A MELBOURNE COURT has heard that the man guilty of raping and murdering Irish woman Jill Meagher had a long history of violence against women and was on parole at the time of the brutal attack.
ABC reports that Adrian Ernest Bayley, 41, also admitted to ‘faking his way through’ a sex offenders’ programme. The revelations came during a pre-sentence hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court.
Jill Meagher was reported missing last September when she failed to return from a night out with work colleagues. Her body was found six days later in a shallow grave about 55kms from where she was last seen alive.
The 29-year-old Louth woman lived in the Australian city with her husband of three years Tom Meagher. He told the court today that he was “half a person…shattered to the core” because of the crime, according to The Age.
“Quite simply my life will never be the same again,” he said, speaking of a “brilliant mind” wasted and that he was shocked at how “deeply depraved a human being can be.
He also told the court that his ordeal had been heightened because of the suspicions directed towards him during the search for Jill.
The Herald Sun describes Jill’s father’s victim impact statement as “powerful”. George McKeon told the court it is “just not okay to rape and murder my child”. His wife, Edith, did not attend the hearing due to ill health but her statement was read.
Parole
Some criticism has been levelled at Australia’s justice system today as a suppression order was lifted, allowing details of Bayley’s history to be revealed.
The 41-year-old was on parole at the time of the attack in October 2012. It had failed to be cancelled despite a violent assault and a warning from a sitting judge that the public needed protection.
However, it is understood the parole was not revoked because the crime was not of a sexual nature.
Bayley’s History of Violence
Age 19: Raped two teenagers in separate attacks
1991: Served 22 months of a five-year sentence for sexual assault
September 2000-February 2001: Repeatedly raped five sex workers who he trapped his his vehicle in St Kilda
February 2012: Punched a man unconscious outside a Geelong café
The State government has already admitted that current laws need to be changed and tougher measures implemented.
Bayley’s lawyers told the sentencing judge that he accepts that he should be sent to jail for life. He will be sentenced next Wednesday.
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