Slippery Australian Lawyers

Some things are universal. It is a comfort to know that in some ways, but in other ways it can make one despair.

This is true of a recent story from Australia, which proves the universal constant that lawyers will always be gits.

A Sydney cab driver called Hassan Nagi (above) raped three women - one in 2003, one in 2006 and one in 2007.

His lawyer, Clive Steirn, mitigated by arguing three things; firstly, that his client suffered from something called 'Don Juanism', the male version of nymphomania. Secondly, that the fact that he didn't 'bash' the women or otherwise harm them after the rape should be taken into account to prove the man's good character; and thirdly that because the the rapes were spread out over a period of five years, Nagi could not be classified as a serial offender.

Fortunately, the judge saw sense, and snapped that Nagi does not get rewarded for not belting his victims after raping them. He also said he found the Don Juanism argument 'challenging'.

Here is the full story:

TAXI driver Hassan Nagi should not receive a harsh sentence for raping three women as he suffered a condition called "Don Juanism" which made him addicted to sex, his barrister said yesterday.
Clive Steirn SC also urged a District Court judge to spare the sex predator a "crushing" sentence because he never bashed his victims while he was raping them.

"There was no gratuitous violence. None of the women was physically harmed. It's an important consideration," he said.

The submissions drew gasps from the public gallery, including from two of Nagi's victims. It also earned a rebuke from Judge James Bennett who said: "He doesn't get rewarded for not belting them."

Mr Steirn said Nagi, 37, from Bexley, had been diagnosed with Don Juanism after visiting brothels from the age of 20. The disorder was "a man's equivalent of nymphomania".

he's loving and gentle, says rapist's brother

"The pattern of frequent sexual contact in an environment in which there is no commitment is characteristic of Don Juanism," he said.

Judge Bennett said of the diagnosis: "I find those views challenging."

But Mr Steirn said Nagi - who has pleaded guilty to raping female passengers in 2003, 2006 and 2007 - was merely being "opportunistic" and should be punished "at the lower end of the spectrum".

"He's taken advantage of their extreme states of intoxication to carry out the offences," he said.

"In terms of driving a cab over many years, he had ample opportunity to commit other types of offences.

"It cannot be said he is a serial offender. These are three separate episodes over five years."

Crown prosecutor Brad Hughes rejected suggestions Nagi's crimes were made less serious by the fact his victims were drunk.

"He's preying on passengers who would probably have no other way of getting home," he said.

"They place themselves at the mercy of a taxi driver. This taxi driver has abused that position."

Nagi's sister-in-law Fatima Kazan told the court the offender was an "honest, caring person who would not harm a soul".

"I cannot put two and two together," she said.

"He says the right things, he does the right things."

She recalled how Nagi initially denied the charges but on the eve of his trial tearfully told his family he would plead guilty instead.

"He said, 'This is what I've got to do, if I've done something wrong I'm sorry for the victims and for the shock to the family'," she said.

"He's very, very sorry. He's always crying, he's always depressed."

In June 2007, Nagi picked up a 27-year-old woman outside a football match in Kogarah and drove her to an industrial area, where he forced her into sex, pushing her face-first to the ground.

She managed to escape from the taxi when it stopped at traffic lights.

DNA samples taken from Nagi after his arrest linked him to similar cases involving victims aged 23 and 31.

In December 2006, Nagi raped the younger woman after picking her up outside a Kings Cross nightclub. He laughed at her during the assault and afterwards offered her $20, increasing it to $50 when she refused to accept it.

The other victim, raped in the back of his cab in July 2003, was also picked up outside a Kings Cross nightclub.

Drunk and vulnerable, the woman could not fight off Nagi as he told her: "You know you want this."

Nagi's bail was revoked and he was last night in custody. He returns on June 3 for sentencing.

I'm sure he's very sorry - sorry that he got caught. God only knows how many times he struck women too drunk to remember what happened. The fact that in 2009 a lawyer can offer these sorts of excuses for a series of rapes is very disturbing indeed.