“Worse than murder”

Michael Finnane opened up about his role in the Skaf gang trials in an interview with A Current Affair, describing what the rapists did as ‘worse than murder’.

‘I was very troubled by it,’ he said.

‘I found it extremely confronting. And it was I suppose crushing almost in a way.’

Judge Michael Finnane presided over the Skaf gang trials
Mr Finnane was responsible for sending notorious gang rapist Bilal Skaf to jail for 55 years

Mr Finnane was responsible for sending notorious gang rapist Bilal Skaf to jail for 55 years

Mr Finnane was responsible for sending ringleader rapist Bilal Skaf to jail for a record 55 years.

He also sent the other eight members of the Skaf gang – notorious for raping teenagers across Sydney in 2000 – to prison.

‘People sometimes, they walk into court, they see a judge and they go, he’s just sitting up there dozing away. He doesn’t have to do a thing, just sit and look and listen,’ Mr Finnane said.

‘But they don’t know the inner turmoil; that I found it hard to sleep at times. [It] obviously affected my mood with other people.

‘It was a very great strain, there’s no doubt about it.’

Mr Finnane detailed the horrific nature of the gang rapes, which took place in various locations in Sydney.

‘I thought what they did was worse than murder,’ he said.

‘It had all the hallmarks of a military exercise.

‘I think they were evil. It was extraordinarily callous.

‘They were involved in organised gang rape, something that I’d never seen before – organised gang rape using mobile phone technology to coordinate attacks.

‘It was really quite astonishing.

‘And each of those girls in effect has lost their life as the result of these attacks, that’s the way I saw it.

‘Particularly the girl in the third trial, I think, she was raped 44 times by 14 men in four hours. Now I can’t imagine she would have very much left after that.’

The 36-year-old will be featured on A Current Affair this week and was seen in a preview for the show wheeling a pram and dodging reporters while wearing a full-length black burqa (pictured)

Joanne Natalie Senior (pictured), a 36-year-old former prison psychologist who converted to Islam and married a member of the notorious Skaf gang, has been pictured wearing a burqa while out in Sydney

Joanne Natalie Senior (pictured), a 36-year-old former prison psychologist who converted to Islam and married a member of the notorious Skaf gang, has been pictured wearing a burqa while out in Sydney
Her husband was one of nine men responsible for a string of gang rapes across Sydney led by Bilal Skaf

Her husband was one of nine men responsible for a string of gang rapes across Sydney led by Bilal Skaf (pictured)

A Current Affair also showed a former prison psychologist who converted to Islam and married a member of the Skaf gang wearing a burqa while out with their child in Sydney.

‘It’s a gross abuse of position. A psychologist is supposed to keep at arm’s lengths from anyone they’re attempting to assist,’ Mr Finnane said.

‘They should not engage in physical contact with them. They shouldn’t become their friends.’

Joanne Natalie Senior married the member of the Skaf gang after he was released from prison in 2013.

The 36-year-old was seen in a preview wheeling a pram and dodging reporters while wearing a full-length black burqa.

Senior has had two relationships with men from the Skaf gang.

Her husband was one of nine men responsible for a string of gang rapes across Sydney led by Bilal Skaf.

The 36-year-old married the gang rapist, changed her name to her husband’s and is living with her partner and her parents in western Sydney.

The convicted rapist, who was serving time in Parklea prison, cannot be identified because he was 17 when he raped two girls in 2000.

One was a 13-year-old and another in a separate assault was a 14-year-old committed with one of nine men responsible for the gang rapes across Sydney in 2000.

The Skaf gang member was requested by parole officers to provide the name of his wife to work out if she was an ‘appropriate person’ as a partner for him.

Despite breaking his parole terms in refusing to give out information about his wife – Joanne Natalie Senior – his parole was never revoked, according to a Corrective Services spokeswoman.
The publication claims Senior ran a sex offenders’ program in Parklea prison back in 2010 and 2011.

She began her first relationship with a member of the gang, whose name was suppressed at the time of the Skaf trials because of his mental and intellectual disabilities.

She visited the prisoner 24 times in jail without authorities realising she was an employee, which included organising a special birthday surprise for him.

During this relationship she took his surname, moved in with his mother and engaged in phone sex where she allowed him to call her ‘a sl**’.
Parklea prison where Joanne Natalie Senior is believed to have met her husband from the notorious Skaf gang

Parklea prison where Joanne Natalie Senior is believed to have met her husband from the notorious Skaf gang

The relationship with the man, who is now on parole, came to an end in 2012, before she was suspended from Corrective Services.

Senior was subsequently disqualified from practising psychology in 2015 after admitting to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal that she entered into relationship with the man.

Forensic psychologist James Ogloff, said psychologists can become emotionally vulnerable when working with inmates.

He said the ‘forbidden attraction’ can play a role as the reason psychologists fall for an inmate often during time of stress divorce or a bad relationship.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/…/Judge-Michael-Finnane-tells-ho…