Home Australia The flash new life of Skaf gang rapist is revealed – after he has an ‘eerie’ encounter with prosecutor Margaret Cunneen who put him in jail

The flash new life of Skaf gang rapist is revealed – after he has an ‘eerie’ encounter with prosecutor Margaret Cunneen who put him in jail

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Margaret Cunneen SC, now a prominent Sydney defense lawyer, had the disturbing encounter with rapist 'MG' on a Sydney street after dark, when he pulled up next to her in a 'purring white Ferrari'.

The woman who jailed Sydney Skaf gang rapists had a chilling encounter with one of the evil attackers when he suddenly appeared next to her in a Ferrari.

Margaret Cunneen SC, now a defense lawyer, encountered the rapist, known only as ‘MG’ for legal reasons, while waiting to cross the road alone at night at a traffic light in the city’s financial district.

She revealed that her attention was drawn to the shiny white sports car, complete with gold trim, not realizing at first who was driving.

Cunneen said on Mamamia’s True Crime Conversations podcast that he had simply been admiring what a beautiful sports car it was.

‘I was walking down Park Street, Sydney. “I had just gotten out of an Uber with some friends,” he told podcaster Gemma Bath. “I was crossing Park Street to catch a taxi or a bus.

“It was dark and there was a beautiful white Ferrari purring in the lights, and I really like cars. It had gold trim and it was really new. I had never seen such a nice Ferrari.

‘It made a beautiful noise and I must confess that as I walked in front of it in the dark, I was looking at it, not the driver.

”When I got to the other side, the window rolled down and (the driver) said, ‘Margaret! Do you know who it is? I said: “No, but I like your car” and he said: “it’s (name)” and it was MG… And he accelerated.’

Margaret Cunneen SC, now a prominent Sydney defense lawyer, had the disturbing encounter with rapist ‘MG’ on a Sydney street after dark, when he pulled up next to her in a ‘purring white Ferrari’.

MG was one of nine gang rapists described by Cunneen as the

MG was one of nine gang rapists branded by Cunneen as Bilal Skaf’s (pictured) “enthusiastic lieutenant” in the reign of terror that shocked the nation and which a judge called “worse than murder”.

Although 14 men took part in the rapes, only nine were convicted and jailed after police swooped on the Skaf gang (above, under surveillance before their arrest) as they scoured Bondi Beach for their next victims.

Although 14 men took part in the rapes, only nine were convicted and jailed after police swooped on the Skaf gang (above, under surveillance before their arrest) as they scoured Bondi Beach for their next victims.

He added: “It was so creepy I couldn’t believe it. I texted my friends ‘I’ll tell you now in case something happens.'”

“I wasn’t scared or anything because he had a big smile on his face and, my God, he has a Ferrari and I don’t.

‘He wasn’t threatening but… he was quite triumphant.’

MG was one of nine Skaf gang rapists subsequently jailed for the series of rapes that shook the city just weeks before the Sydney Olympics began in September 2000.

As Crown prosecutor in several of the rapists’ trials, Cunneen was spat at outside court and called a ‘sharmoota’ – meaning ‘whore’ in Arabic – by a relative.

The encounter a few months ago, in late 2024, came 22 years after MG was found guilty of raping young Sydney women in the infamous Skaf gang rape trials.

The attacks were so degrading and degrading that the trial judge described them at the time as “worse than murder”.

Cunneen branded MG at trial as the “zealous lieutenant” of Bilal Skaf, who orchestrated the attacks with his brother Mohammed and at least six other young Lebanese Australians.

Margaret Cunneen was walking at night along Sydney's Park Street when she saw a white Ferrari and the driver of the car saw her and rolled down the window: it was MG, one of the Skaf rapists she had locked up in 2002.

Margaret Cunneen was walking at night along Sydney’s Park Street when she saw a white Ferrari and the driver of the car saw her and rolled down the window: it was MG, one of the Skaf rapists she had locked up in 2002.

1737638746 703 The flash new life of Skaf gang rapist is revealed

The lawyer said she saw a beautiful white Ferrari purring in the lights (above, file image) and the driver sang ‘Margaret! Do you know who it is? She said the “creepy” encounter didn’t scare her, but that the rapist seemed “triumphant.”

MG and his fellow rapists lured two schoolgirls to Northcote Park, near his home, where the teenagers were sexually assaulted, kicked and thrown into bushes.

MG and his fellow rapists lured two schoolgirls to Northcote Park, near his home, where the teenagers were sexually assaulted, kicked and thrown into bushes.

A girl was lured by Mohammed Skaf (above), who she believed was her friend, and was then raped by his brother Bilal and another man, who pointed a gun at her head and kicked her in the stomach.

A girl was lured by Mohammed Skaf (above), who she believed was her friend, and was then raped by his brother Bilal and another man, who pointed a gun at her head and kicked her in the stomach.

He The Skaf gang’s reign of terror began on August 4, but the intended victim, aged 14, escaped.

Then came the first successful attack, on the night of August 10, 2000, when MG and others, including his friend and neighbor Bilal Skaf, attacked two schoolgirls they picked up at Chatswood Shopping Center at around 9pm.

Over the next 25 days, Bilal Skaf’s gang, which included his 16-year-old brother Mohammed, carried out three more rapes on victims as young as 16.

A girl was lured by Mohammed Skaf, who she believed was her friend, and was then raped by his brother Bilal and another man, who pointed a gun at her head and kicked her in the stomach.

Another young woman was raped 25 times by a total of 14 men in a six-hour ordeal, before the men doused her with a fire hose.

In the final attack, three men raped two 16-year-old girls in a house for five hours and told them: “You deserve it because you’re Australian.”

In September, New South Wales Police placed several suspects under surveillance, including the Skafs, Hajeid and MG.

On October 7, Mohammed Skaf and Tayyab Skeikh picked up two 16-year-old girls at the Strathfield railway yard for a ride, but were chased by police.

Mohammed Skaf was released from prison in 2021. His brother Bilal is the only original member of the rape gang still in prison and will not be released before 2033.

Mohammed Skaf was released from prison in 2021. His brother Bilal is the only original member of the rape gang still in prison and will not be released before 2033.

Cunneen attributes her busy career to MG recognizing her on a dark street 20 years later; besides,

Margaret Cunneen is now a busy defense attorney. Above, with Kulwinder Singh, who was acquitted of setting his wife on fire.

Margaret Cunneen, now a busy defense lawyer (right, with Kulwinder Singh, whom she successfully defended when he pleaded not guilty to setting his wife on fire), attributes that in part to MG recognizing her on a dark street 20 years later .

When Skaf said ‘let’s do a gang bang’, the girls jumped out of the car when it stopped in traffic in Paddington.

The men continued to Bondi Beach, where they met up with others, including Bilal Skaf, Belal Hajeid, Mahmoud Chami and MG, and began searching for more victims before police later swooped in.

Margaret Cunneen conducted several trials against nine men involving multiple different victims.

But he told the Mamamia podcast: “They only caught nine of the 15, so five or six got away with it.”

In 2019, MG was convicted of 10 charges, including aggravated sexual assault, detention and assault of both Ms. F and Ms. P.

Originally sentenced to 40 years with a minimum non-parole period of 26 years for his role in the gang rapes, he was granted a new trial in 2004.

While serving a reduced sentence, MG scored his own triumph in 2007, when he was found not guilty of the gang rape of a woman known as Miss C in August 2000.

Ms. Cunneen had been replaced at the retrial by a new prosecutor, Lou Lungo, who had only a few weeks to prepare for the trial.

The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal had he removed her from the case because she had made comments about the case in a lecture to law students.

Ms. C did not want to testify and the trial only took her statement, Cunneen told the podcast.

“I had promised her that I would always stay with her,” he said. “Someone else made the case… and was unsuccessful (but) I’m not being critical.”

The ‘Ferrari man’, or MG, was acquitted. Hs served the remainder of his reduced sentence for the rapes of Ms F and P and was released on parole in December 2015.

Since then, MG served more prison terms for drug offenses but was released on probation. Bilal Skaf is the only original member of a rape gang still in prison.

In 2005, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal reduced Skaf’s maximum sentence of 55 years to a maximum of 28 years. Its earliest release date is 2033.

Cunneen attributes her new role as a defense attorney to MG recognizing her on a dark street 20 years later.

And he added: “I have been told that criminals in prison talk a lot about lawyers.”

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