Notorious rapist and killer Adrian Bayley wins appeal

The man who raped and killed Melbourne woman Jill Meagher has won an appeal to have his sentence reduced, in a move that has sparked outrage around the country.

Adrian Bayley was found guilty of attacking and killing Jill in an alley in 2012 as she was walking home late at night.

He was sentenced to life in prison for his horrific crime, but the story wasn’t over there.

While he was in jail, he was convicted of three other rapes and given an extra 18 years in jail. Now, one he has won an appeal against one of those convictions, with the judge reducing his sentence from 43 to 40 years in jail.

While the reduction is small, it raises a lot of questions.

The story of Jill Meagher captured the attention of the nation and shone a light on our parole system, with many arguing it had failed to protect Jill and other women as Bayley was out on parole when he attacked and murdered her.

Bayley had already been convicted of numerous attacks on women when he killed Jill, but was somehow allowed out on the streets on parole.

The case sparked protests across the country, with many people saying the court system was not harsh enough on rapists – especially those who were proven to be repeat offenders.

Earlier this year, a coroner found that Jill’s death could have been prevented if the parole system had of been tougher and done more to keep Bayley behind bars.

Now, despite the fact that numerous judges have noted Bayley has shown absolutely no remorse for his crimes, his sentence has been reduced.

The ruling begs the question: when will we learn?

While Bayley will still likely serve out the rest of his days behind bars, should we really be reducing the sentences of serial rapists?

The judge ruled his sentence should be reduced over a technicality where one of his victims identified him from a photograph on Facebook. The court found the evidence was not strong enough to uphold his previous sentence for that crime.

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