Jill Meagher’s killer ‘may have been misidentified’ in rape case

Adrian Bayley, who was convicted of raping and murdering Irish woman Jill Meagher, may have been misidentified by another woman he was later jailed for attacking, an appeal court in Australia has heard.

The court heard on Wednesday that a woman Bayley was convicted of raping may have mistakenly identified him as her attacker 12 years after the incident.

Bayley (43) has appealed two of three rape convictions in May 2015, two years after he was jailed for the rape and murder of Drogheda woman Jill Meagher in Melbourne on September 22nd, 2012.

He attacked her as she walked home from a night out with colleagues.

He was later jailed for 18 years for three separate rapes and his minimum jail term increased from 35 years to 43 years.

Bayley has challenged the refusal to grant him legal aid for his appeal.

His defence lawyer, Saul Holt, told the appeal court there was a real chance the victim mistook Bayley for the man who raped her in St Kilda in Melbourne in 2000, Australian media reported.

Mr Holt said the woman identified Bayley from a photograph on Facebook after he was charged with the rape and murder of Ms Meagher in September 2012, The Age reported on its website.

He said the prosecution in that trial gave significant weight to the victim’s identification of Bayley.

He said this was problematic because of the timeframe between the attack and identification and because of Bayley’s notoriety at the time.

Mr Holt said there was no suggestion the victim had lied or had intentionally misled anyone.

However, he said “real care needs to be taken” in identifying people, especially after a significant period of time.

The Facebook photo of Bayley the victim first saw was taken 11 years after she was attacked, Mr Holt said.

The victim also identified Bayley from a photoboard.

Crown prosecutor Sally Flynn said the photoboard shown to the woman, which included pictures of other men with similar physical attributes, was “very fair”.

Bayley’s appeal

Bayley was found guilty in 2015 of raping three women in separate incidents in 2000 and 2012.

He is appealing convictions of rape, common assault, false imprisonment, threatening to kill and indecent assault in two of the cases.

He is also arguing that his 43-year non-parole period is “manifestly excessive”.

He was not in court.

In the Crown’s submission against the appeal, it states that Bayley’s crimes were “extremely serious”, that he had targeted vulnerable women and did not show any remorse.

Chief Justice Marilyn Warren, Mr Justice Mark Weinberg and Mr Justice Phillip Priest reserved their decision.