Gang rapists guilty

FOUR Cairns men have been found guilty of gang raping an under-aged girl in the back of a Holden Jackaroo.

Eleven jurors reached their verdicts on the 16 charges after 11 days of legal proceedings, 11 hours of deliberations and 27 notes to Judge Tracy Fantin.

Two jurors had been discharged during the course of the trial, which stretched to nearly three times its expected four-day term.

Aaron Anau, Francis Peter, Jeffrey Tibau Banu and Tom Banu Ingui were each found guilty of four counts of rape.

The four men raped the 16-year-old girl in the boot of a four-wheel-drive, parked in a cane field at Machans Beach in December 2017.

Four police officers were called to the Cairns District Court as the verdicts were being read to Judge Fantin and the defendants’ supporters in the public gallery.

Anau smiled and waved to supporters as he was being led to the cells. He and his three co-accused will have to wait more than three months to learn their fate.

Judge Fantin said a full day was expected for the collective sentence hearing, which has been listed for September 2.

The four men, aged in their mid 30s and early 40s, drove the heavily intoxicated girl to a cane field near Machans Beach.

She woke up in the boot of the Holden Jackaroo, naked from the waist down as Anau was raping her.

The men took turns raping the girl before she made a break for the surrounding sugar cane but tripped and fell.

The men returned her to the vehicle and drove her into Cairns before she was dumped on McLeod Street.

Francis Peter testified against his co-accused defendants during a police interview played to the jury early in the proceedings.

He told officers that Ingui was acting sexually aggressively toward the girl.

“Tom was talking to her ... he said ‘We are going for a cruise,’” Peter said.

“I understood his body language. He was hugging her and she was upset. He was going to probably do something.”

Mick Dalton, defending Anau, said his client would plead guilty to a further six summary charges including assault and wilful damage.

The trial nearly stumbled on the last day when a juror revealed they had searched for a definition of “reasonable doubt” online and then printed copies for other jurors.

I UNDERSTOOD HIS BODY LANGUAGE. HE WAS HUGGING HER AND SHE WAS UPSET. HE WAS GOING TO PROBABLY DO SOMETHING FRANCIS PETER