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.
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akmal azhar
1 comments:
The article is about a man who has jailed for 25 years. He was jailed because of rape cases. The guilty man, Luke James Colless, 34, who is the father of four, attacked 11 women and raped 5 from them. He pleaded guilty and he is sentence for 25 years of jail. But, his lawyer, Carl Heaton said that 25 years of jail is excessive. As the result, the Court of Appeal has cut the sentence for his case from 25 years to 16 years of be in jail. In my opinion, i think Colless does not deserve the cut. Although his lawyer said that 25 years is too much, for me, his guilty cant be paid within the period of time. He should be there for 25 years!!!!!!~!!!
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