Jill Meagher's killer Adrian Bayley had history of violent sex attacks; parole board failed to take him off the streets

Updated

The Melbourne man who has pleaded guilty to murdering ABC employee Jill Meagher has a long history of violent attacks on women and has admitted faking his way through a sex offenders' program, a court has heard.

Adrian Ernest Bayley was also allowed to continue parole despite being convicted of assault.

Today, Bayley faced a pre-sentencing hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court, where his lawyers said he accepted he should be given a life sentence for the killing of Ms Meagher.

Justice Geoffrey Nettle also lifted a suppression order, allowing details of Bayley's history to be revealed.

The 41-year-old Coburg man has an extensive history of rape and violence.

The Victorian Parole Board failed to cancel his parole after a violent assault and a judge's warning that the public needed to be protected from him.

Bayley's history of violent attacks on women spans more than two decades, the court was told.

Key points Adrian Bayley has pleaded guilty to killing Jill Meagher last year.

A suppression order has been lifted, meaning Bayley's history can be revealed.

He has served a total of 11 years in prison for the rape and attempted rape of eight women

When he was 19 he raped two teenagers and attempted to rape another.

He served time behind bars, but faked his way through a sex offender program to get early release.

In 2000 he raped five prostitutes over a six-month period.

He was jailed for a minimum of eight years over the attacks.

In 2012 while on parole, he assaulted a man in Geelong.

The ABC understands the attack did not raise alarm bells with the Parole Board, as it was not a sex crime.

Bayley was on parole when he raped and murdered Ms Meagher in 2012.

When he was 19, he raped two teenagers in separate attacks.

One was a 16-year-old family friend. He also attempted to rape a 16-year-old hitchhiker.

In June 1991 he was sentenced to his first stint behind bars.

He served just 22 months of a five-year sentence for sexual assault, later admitting he faked his way through a sex offenders' program to get early release.

In September 2000, he began what Judge Tony Duckett described as a horrendous wave of crimes against St Kilda sex workers, raping five prostitutes over a six-month period.

Bayley was jailed for a minimum of eight years for trapping his victims in his vehicle and repeatedly raping them.

The crime spree prompted the judge to give the ominous warning that society needed to be protected from him.

"You used an array of threats and violence to force your victims to satisfy your gross sexual appetite," he said.

"You forced your victims to accept a series of sexual acts that caused them horrifying distress".

On parole when he murdered Jill Meagher

When he snatched Ms Meagher off the street last year, Bayley was on parole having served his sentence for the St Kilda rapes, the court has heard.

However in February 2012, the Parole Board did not revoke his parole when he pleaded guilty to punching a man unconscious outside a Geelong cafe.

Bayley pleaded guilty to the assault and the presiding Geelong magistrate determined a three-month jail sentence was warranted, given his violent past.

The ABC understands the attack did not raise alarm bells with the parole board as it was not a sex crime.

Bayley appealed against his sentence and was left free to walk the streets and meet Ms Meagher.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: CCTV vision of evidence leading up to disappearance of Jill Meagher (ABC News)

Ms Meagher was snatched off Brunswick's Sydney Road after a night out with friends on September 21 last year.

Haunting CCTV images released by courts showed her attempt to make the short walk home, before her chance meeting with Bayley outside a dress shop.

Just eight minutes after leaving Brunswick's Etiquette bar, Ms Meagher was accosted by Bayley.

At the same time, her husband Tom sent her an SMS asking if she was OK.

By 5:00am, Mr Meagher was searching the streets for his missing wife, after 80 or so calls to her phone had gone unanswered.

Bayley told police 'they should never have let me out'

The court was told Bayley later admitted to police he had killed her, blaming an argument he had with his girlfriend earlier in the night.

"I strangled her," he told police.

"You know it really wasn't my intention to hurt her. All I thought was, what have I done?"

Bayley returned to the scene at 4:22am, put Ms Meagher's body in the boot and drove to Gisborne South to bury her on the side of the road.

"I cried, man, and I dug a hole ... I didn't cry for me," Bayley told detectives.

"I'm going to jail for a long time... I hope they bring back the death penalty before I get sentenced. I have no life left.

"They should have the death penalty for people like me.

"How many chances does a person need? They should never have let me out."

Earlier this year, the Victorian Government admitted existing laws had failed and tougher measures were needed.

The Government is introducing legislation to ensure people who reoffend while on parole will automatically have their parole cancelled or reassessed.

There will be a mandatory cancellation of parole for sex and violent offenders who are convicted of the same type of offence while on release.

Map: Disappearance of Jill Meagher

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, murder-and-manslaughter, courts-and-trials, melbourne-3000, brunswick-3056, vic

First posted