Jail for attack on nude woman

Press, 8 May 1982, Page 4

Jail for attack on nude woman

An escaped prisoner high on drugs and alcohol had gone berserk and behaved almost like an animal when he chased a naked young woman down a hill, stabbed her and behaved violently to her, Mr Justice Casey said in the High Court yesterday. His Honour sentenced Paul Massof, aged 24, a prison inmate, who appeared in the dock handcuffed and in prison clothes, to five years imprisonment on 10 charges arising from two separate episodes. Massof received a fiveyear term on a charge of wounding a young married woman with intent to avoid detection after committing a crime. The other nine offences on which he received concurrent terms were escaping from jail, aggravated assaults, indecent assult, assault. burglary and unlawfully taking cars. Mr Justice Casey said that Massof was driving a converted car when he had a minor collision with a vehicle driven by a young married woman. He took over the woman’s car by force and drove her up to the hills where he indecently assaulted her. "It must have been a terrifying experience for the woman. You forced her to strip her clothes off and threatened her with action which could only be regarded as totally obscene. The fortuitous arrival of two children gave her the opportunity to escape.

“Your rambling and selfjustifying explanations- on that occasion in the notes you have given me simply carry no weight. “When the woman, who displayed commendable courage, calmness and fortitude. escaped from the .car and ran stark naked down the hill you went after her and went totally berserk, almost like an animal, stabbing her and generally behaving violently,” Mr Justice Casey said. Mr E. Bedo,’ for Massof. said that his client was something of an enigma. • When he returned to university in 1979 he got A passes in three scientific subjects. Massof was a loser and was unable to relate to others and had become withdrawn and isolated. A short time after Massof got out of prison he spent most of the day drinking and he was given barbiturates, and that combined with a lack of sleep made him act in an irrational manner. It must have been a horrifying experience for the woman but Massof was beside himself because of his condition. Fortunately she had suffered no permanent injury. After the incident on the hills with the woman Massof was like a cornered animal and was desperate to escape. A man approached him with a pitchfork. This unfortunate man’s life ,had become a tragedy to himself and his parents. He

was a desperately lonely and friendless person who' was unlikely to survive a long term of imprisonment. Mr Bedo said. • Mr Justice Casey said it was obvious that Massof had personality problems and the probation report referred to assessments made by psychiatrists and others who'had been concerned with his welfare. It was accepted that he was not insane under any medical definition. “I think the best description is that you are simply a loner who has been unable to relate to others and I think that you have now got to the stage where you cannot relate to yourself,” his Honour said. After the accused's earlier sentence of two years and a half for wounding with intent, and the conduct Massof had displayed in both episodes for which he was to be sentenced on 10 charges, his Honour said he had to approach the matter on the basis that the protection of society required that Massof be put away for a long enough period so that with treatment in prison he might emerge, even if he could not come to terms with himself, resolved to leave other people and their property alone. In spite of counsel's reference to the impulsive way Massof sometimes acted and he was sure that did happen on occasions, the escape was well-planned and a determined exercise.