‘Silence of the Lambs’ rapist Leslie Neil Cunliffe deported

Leslie Cunliffe

Leslie Neil Cunliffe subjected a woman to a shocking rape ordeal in 1999. Picture: Ben Swinnerton
Source: Herald Sun




SEX monster Leslie Neil Cunliffe has lost his fight to avoid deportation after serving 12 years in jail for a brutal rape.


Cunliffe, a British migrant, posed as a policeman in 1999 to kidnap a university student, 21.

He strapped her to a chair and subjected her to seven hours of terror in a shed near Geelong.

The woman was raped, tortured and had a fake bomb attached to her while Cunliffe demanded a $1 million ransom from her family.

Police described the padded shed where the victim was held as something akin to the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen cancelled Cunliffe’s visa last year after his parole but the British citizen launched an appeal before the Federal Court while at Maribyrnong Detention Centre.

Mr Bowen cancelled Cunliffe’s visa on the ground he was not of good character and Federal Court judge Justice Julie Dodds-Streeton today upheld that decision and dismissed Cunliffe’s appeal.

The brutal criminal had lived in Australia for about 45 of his 64 years and argued the minister failed to take proper account of the impact deportation would have on his grandchildren.

He also argued it breached procedural fairness.

Cunliffe was approved for Australian citizenship on May 18, 1999, a day after committing the last of a series of offences linked to the rape and abduction, court documents show.

Initially, the Immigration Department wrongly advised Cunliffe the minister did not have the power to deport him, but after review of a High Court decision on a different case it rescinded that advice.

Costs of the appeal were awarded against Cunliffe.

dunnm@heraldsun.com.au

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