Retrial for convicted rapist

A MAN convicted of raping a 21-year-old on his buck’s night outside a Narre Warren nightclub has been granted a retrial.
Sermet Demiri, 31, was sentenced in the County Court in March last year to six years in jail following the incident outside the Brass Monkey nightclub.
After pleading not guilty, the jury found Demiri guilty of raping the woman twice on 3 March 2003.
Judge Tim Wood ordered the then 28-year-old to serve a minimum of four years before being eligible for parole.
On Friday, Supreme Court Justices Chris Maxwell, Peter Buchanan and Robert Redlich quashed the conviction and allowed Demiri’s appeal for a retrial. Demiri appealed on grounds that the judge gave too much prominence to the victim’s distress and evidence, and witness accounts from security guards.
He also argued that the judge had not given enough prominence to the defence case during his directions to the jury. A date for the new trial has not been set but it will be scheduled for the second half of this year.
Brass Monkey nightclub has since changed names and owners, and the venue now operates as Furnace nightclub.