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Salt Creek Backpacker Attacker Sentenced To 22 Years In Jail

Two young international backpackers were brutally attacked in February last year.
Roman Heinze, 61, was found guilty of six out of seven charges in March.
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Roman Heinze, 61, was found guilty of six out of seven charges in March.

The man convicted of kidnapping and brutally assaulting two backpackers in Salt Creek, South Australia, in February last year has been sentenced to 22 years and four months behind bars.

Sixty-one-year-old Roman Heinze -- whose identity was only recently revealed due to court suppression orders -- was convicted in March of six charges, including kidnapping, endangering life, causing harm with intent to cause harm and assault.

But the jury found him not guilty of attempted murder.

During the trial, the court heard that a Brazilian backpacker was found by fishermen, naked and screaming for help on the beach. Her travel companion, a German backpacker, was found covered head to toe in blood.

The two women, both aged 24, both told the court that they thought they were going to die during the attack, according to the ABC.

The two women had only met up a few days before starting their trip via a mutual friend. They decided to travel together as they both wanted to see the sights along the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne.

In the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Justice Trish Kelly handed Heinze a sentence of 22 years and four months in prison, with a non-parole period of 17 years for the attacks, as well as an earlier attack on another woman.

Prosecutor Jim Pearce had previously told the court that Heinze had failed to show remorse for his violence and his prospects for rehabilitation were poor, the Syndey Morning Herald reports.

"Eventually he will be released, and that's inevitable one would think," Pearce told the court.

"But in meantime, the public will gain some protection by his incarceration."

More to come.

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