A man who raped and tortured a woman for weeks has appealed his multiple life sentences, claiming he was not credited for his efforts to stop the victim from dying.
Nicholas John Crilley was handed seven life sentences by a Queensland judge in 2020 after pleading guilty to 62 offences including grievous bodily harm, deprivation of liberty, torture and 18 counts of rape.
Crilley’s treatment of the woman, aged 22 at the time, in Brisbane in June 2017 left her permanently disfigured.
He was arrested eight days after his offences following a dramatic pursuit through the city, during which he rammed police vehicles and carjacked an elderly woman.
All three justices of the Court of Appeal on Wednesday said they had concerns about whether Crilley had genuine remorse.
‘Even when he rings the ambulance, he does not say this is someone who for 23 days has been burned and abused and starved … and she is likely to die,’ Justice Thomas Bradley said.
‘He said she had taken a turn for the worse and he did not know what was wrong … to call that saving her life is a big stretch.’
Justice David Boddice said there were arguments for Crilley wanting his victim to survive so she could suffer more.
Nicholas John Crilley was handed seven life sentences in 2020 after pleading guilty to grievous bodily harm, deprivation of liberty, torture and rape
Crilley was arrested (pictured) eight days after he finished his 23-day torture of a 22-year-old woman, who was left permanently disfigured
‘There are actual statements made by him in the course of it that he wanted to disfigure her so she was not attractive to other men,’ he said.
‘This was about maiming her for later in life.’
Justice Bradley said Crilley’s letter to the sentencing judge expressing remorse was ‘disturbing’ and referred to himself 28 times.
Court of Appeal President Debra Mullins said the letter suggested Crilley had a personality disorder.
‘A fair reading of the letter is that it is self-centred,’ Justice Mullins said.
Defence barrister Craig Eberhardt told the justices that his client’s offences were ‘horrendous’ and showed ‘incredible cruelty’.
‘Our submissions do not change the character of the offending. We accept entirely that this remains in the worst category of this type,’ he said.
‘If (Crilley) had not called an ambulance, therefore saving her life, if he had not pleaded guilty and had cross-examined (the victim) at trial, if he was not remorseful, there would not be a complaint about the sentence imposed.’
Crilley on Wednesday told appeal judges he should have been credited for saving his victim’s life as he called an ambulance for her (pictured, the unit where Crilley tortured the woman)
The justices heard Crilley acted against his own interests by not letting the victim die, which would have made it difficult to later convict him on multiple counts.
Crown prosecutor Michael Lehane said there was evidence that Crilley thought the victim was so injured she would never be able to testify against him.
‘She had not been conscious for three days. His thought was she could not speak,’ he said.
‘There was no consideration that she would be a critical prosecution witness.’
Mr Lehane said the sentencing judge had considered Crilley’s guilty plea.
‘The nature of the offending simply overwhelmed these particular mitigating features and warranted life imprisonment,’ he said.
The justices reserved their judgment, which will be handed down at an undetermined date.
Justice Mullins thanked Mr Eberhardt and Crilley’s legal team.
The judges did not hand down their judgement on Wednesday but said Crilley (pictured) may have hoped to save the woman’s life so he could continuing harming her, saying ‘to call that saving her life is a big stretch’
‘It’s important that counsel take briefs that are very difficult matters, as this one was,’ she said.
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