Three men convicted of violently raping a woman after a night at Mooseheads nightclub have lost their appeal in the ACT Supreme Court.
The trio picked up the woman in November 2019 after a night of heavy drinking and took her to a unit, where she was repeatedly assaulted.
Simon Vunilagi, 33, Isimeli Vatanitawake, 22, and Josefa Masivesi, 46, were all jailed for their role in the attack last year.
The three men appealed their convictions earlier this year on several grounds, including that the trial judge failed to challenge the reliability of the victim's evidence.
Today, the three men had their appeals formally dismissed.
Victim 'afraid' she could be killed during attack
Security vision captured inside the club showed the woman hugging and kissing one of the men, but the judge found she did not consent to group sex hours later.
The woman told police the men turned music up to drown out the sound of her screaming as they raped her. At one point, she said she was afraid they would kill her.
More than five hours passed before the woman escaped and was helped by a stranger.
Vunilagi was found guilty of more than 10 charges including rape and was sentenced to six years and three months in jail.
Vatanitawake and Masivesi were both jailed for more than two years.
The trial was heard by a judge, without the presence of a jury.
During the appeal, the trio's defence lawyers argued the conviction should be thrown out because Chief Justice Helen Murrell had failed to challenge the reliability of the victim's evidence.
But the ACT Court of Appeal found Judge Murrell did have enough time to assess the reliability of the woman over the five days in which she gave evidence, including under cross-examination.
The appeal was dismissed.
All three men are Fijian nationals and will be deported after they serve their non-parole period.
Masivesi is out on parole and appeared in court via videolink from an immigration detention centre.
Vunilagi and Vatanitawake remain behind bars.
