Swan’s song, and the Aurukun appeal

Solicitor-General Walter Sofronoff QC, for the attorney-general, today argued errors had been made during sentencing.

He said the Court of Appeal had, in previous cases, made it clear adults who rape young children should be sent to jail.

Subsequently, Mr Sofronoff argued, the three adults in this case should each be sentenced to eight years’ jail with a set parole eligibility date.

Mr Sofronoff suggested the juveniles receive detention sentences of between one and three years, arguing there were “no exceptional circumstances” that should prevent convictions from being recorded.

However, defence barrister Ken Fleming SC told the court today there had been no error in the original sentencing as the prosecutor had specifically requested non-custodial sentences.

Mr Fleming said the nine perpetrators had “skewed” senses of moral judgment about appropriate behaviour because of the “dysfunctional community” in which they lived.

He also said his clients had not realised their actions were wrong because the girl had “actively encouraged” the sexual activity.

However, Chief Justice Paul de Jersey said he had “great difficulty” in accepting that consent from a pre-teen lessened the severity of the offence.

Court of Appeal President Margaret McMurdo agreed, saying the law clearly deems a 10-year-old “incapable of consent”.

Mr Sofronoff argued that Judge Bradley, in sentencing, had already given too much weight to the suggestion that Aurukun’s “dysfunctional” society had been responsible for the nine offenders’ lack of moral standards.

He told the court the offenders should receive custodial sentences as the law was duty bound to protect all citizens against community-condemned acts such as rape.

“Even a dysfunctional community requires and deserves the law’s protection,” he said.

Mr Sofronoff said Judge Bradley also had erred by treating all offenders the same and not taking into account age differences and relevant prior convictions.

He also said it should have been necessary for her to explain the reasons behind the sentences, adding that the punishments given to the nine did not reflect the principle of general deterrence.

The Brisbane Times

Call me a cynic if you like…

but I could not help but think that the story about the long awaited appeal against the manifestly inadequate sentences handed down By Sarah Bradley in the Aurukun Rape case has a good chance of slipping under the radar while the frenzy of commentary on Wayne Swan’s first budget runs its course, I am not at all surprised because no matter who is in government we are fed the details, or at least the overall intentions in a series of “leaks” in the period leading up to the budget, I though that it was a better use of my time to take a nap rather than listen to Swans less than dulcet tones as he droned through his speech, looking through the reports this morning certainly shows that there are no real surprises, a means test for the baby bonus that cuts in at $150,000 which makes one wonder just how many fewer Bonuses will be paid, not that many I guess, likewise the increase in tax on luxury cars will probably make very little difference to those who can afford them because you can bet that when they “trade up” they will get just that bit more for their older model and as someone else has pointed out elsewhere the whole point of having a swanky car is for the ostentatious display of wealth and increasing the cost of such cars merely makes them more of a status symbol, the old line about if you have to ask the price of a Rolls Royce then you can’t afford one comes to mind…

But I digress…

back to the appeal we should all hope that the arguments being put by Solicitor-General Walter Sofronoff QC finds favour with the court because we should not tolerate the notion that a lesser standard of behaviour is acceptable when it comes to rape within the context of indigenous communities than is the norm for the wider community. The sentences handed down by Bradley and the patronising assumptions that clearly underlie them need to be addressed and I for one will be following the progress of this appeal in a keen interest.

Cheers Comrades