The man convicted of the rape and murder of Jill Meagher raped his first victim when his wife was pregnant with his first child, the Supreme Court of Victoria heard this morning.
Before passing sentence Justice Geoffrey Nettle went into significant detail about Adrian Bayley's background and his criminal past, providing additional information to that outlined at Bayley's pre-sentence hearing last week.
He noted that while still a teenager, Bayley formed a relationship with a young woman of similar age and, after marrying her in April 1990, had two children by her, born in 1990 and 1996.
“On 8 June 1990, when you were still only 18 years of age, and your then wife was three to four month’s pregnant with your first child, you detained another young woman against her will, attempted to rape her and then raped her in the bedroom of your home. You were charged with those offences on 10 June 1990 and released on bail pending trial,” he said.
“While so released on bail, on 30 August 1990, you attacked a 17 year old girl as she walked to her home from a bus stop”. He also threatened to kill her.
Two months after his wife gave birth to their first child in October 1990, he gave a lift to a 16 year old girl who was hitch-hiking. He took a detour, stopped and when she tried to get out of the car he grabbed her face and put a hand across her mouth. “Mercifully, she escaped and was able to give police a precise description of your appearance which led to your detection,” the judge said.
“When arrested and interviewed, you at first steadfastly denied that you had anything to do with the matter and you produced a diary which you had falsified in order to give yourself an alibi. Eventually, however, when confronted with the evidence against you, you admitted that you were responsible for all three attacks.
“On 7 June 1991, you were sentenced for those offences to a total effective sentence of five years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of three years”.
Bayley, the eldest of five siblings, separated from his wife in 1995 and, in July 2000, changed his name by deed poll from Adrian Ernest Edwards to Adrian Ernest Bayley.
“ After separating from your wife, you commenced a relationship with another woman, with whom you had two more children in 1998 and 2001,” the judge noted.
Again while this woman was pregant with the second child he was arrested and charged with 16 counts of rape against five complainants committed between September 2000 and March 2001. All five were “prostitutes who you saw as easy victims and unlikley to complain to police”.
Justice Geoffrey Nettle said when Bayley was interviewed by police he admitted sexual activity with each of the complainants but denied the use of force or any other wrong-doing. “Once again, however, when confronted with the evidence against you, you admitted your guilt and then expressed remorse for what you had done. On 26 April 2002, you were sentenced for those offences to 11 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of eight years”.
He was released on parole on March 17th 2010 and almost immediately reoffended, assaulting a man outside a cafe on August 20th 2010, causing him serious injury. He was sentenced to three months imprisonment for this offence in February 2012.
“You appealed against the sentence and were granted bail pending the appeal. Thus, you were on parole, on bail” when Jill Meagher was raped and murdered on 22 September 2012.
“It follows that, when you raped Gillian Meagher, you had already served 11 years’ imprisonment for a broad range sexual offences, including multiple counts of rape with violence,” the judge said.