BRISBANE'S bikeway rapist has had nine years slashed from his sentence on appeal.
Father of four Luke James Colless, 34, was jailed for 25 years in the Brisbane District Court in August last year for a string of attacks along Brisbane bikeways.
Between April 2006 and July 2008, Colless attacked 11 women, "violently raping" five with his fingers, sentencing Judge Marshall Irwin said.
He pleaded guilty to five counts of rape, five counts of assault with intent to commit rape, six counts of sexual assault and two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.
Last week, he appealed against his sentence, with his lawyer Carl Heaton arguing in the Court of Appeal that 25 years was "excessive".
Mr Heaton argued that Judge Irwin had not balanced the "objective circumstances of the offending" with the "significant and compelling mitigating factors in (Colless') favour".
He said Colless' offending was less serious than other comparable cases relied on by the crown, and that too much weight was placed on the degree of violence Colless used to subdue some of his victims.
Mr Heaton argued that in his client's favour was his extremely early plea of guilty, his remorse and his own admissions to police. The lawyer said these factors should have led the judge to arrive at a sentence of around 15 to 16 years.
Today, the Court of Appeal upheld Mr Heaton's arguments and substituted a 16-year sentence in place of the 25 years handed down last year. This means that instead of being eligible for parole after serving 15 years, Colless will be able to apply for release after serving a little less than 13 years in custody.
He will be required to undertake a sexual offender course before being granted his freedom.
In making the decision to cut his sentence, the three judges of the Court of Appeal noted the "substantial mitigating circumstances of the case", ruling Judge Irwin failed to make "adequate allowance" for them.
hello everyone. huh, after so long i have not written any thing in my blog. haha....i feel weird today because i don't know why suddenly i want to check my blog. maybe because i feel pity to miss dilani, my ENL lecturer. she asked us to upload a news from aussie since a month ago, i think!!! haha, but, i did nothing..hahaha.....i guest all of us especially my friends don't take it seriously because we think that we still have the time...but for me, i think the time is running out, whether we realize it or not...haiz...and today, i think i have wasting my time....browsing internet, bla...bla...bla....but luckily, i have done the aussie news....hohoh, thats why i dont feel guilty today... hahahah....however, i still have a few works that should be done by today such as maths exercises, chemistry's tutorial(75% done) and last but not least the chemistry's lab report....opppppssss....still got one more, the important one!!!! ISLAMIC STUDIES'S ASSIGMENT......argghhhhhhhh!!!!......haiz....i feel sucks!!! lol....i hope i can do my homeworks by tonight....i hope so....alalalalal.....=)
This article is about a funding program that provided hospitals in Australia some cash if they want to keep alive critically ill patients who normally can not be healthy or strong again. The program encourages hospitals to spot potential patients who not be revived, and try to make a connection with the patient's family and facilitate family consent.However, this program get some counteract action from doctors, ethicists and from the patient's family. They say that the program is morally wrong. From my point of view, this program should not be done because it is reprehensible and unseemly. Hospitals especially the doctors and staff should take their responsibility to take care of patients well although the patients do not have any more chance to survive. Responsibility comes first, not the money.=)
