Fadley Faisal
A local rape offender had his appeal against conviction and sentence for the latest case backfire when the Court of Appeal revised and increased the appellant’s sentence to a 30 years’ jail term.
The 56-year-old man, whose identity has been withheld to protect the victim from being identified, was last convicted of rape after trial on August 31, 2019 which landed him a jail-sentence of 25 years and six months.
The victim was his grandniece, who was nine years old when the offence took place at their family home.
Chief Justice Dato Seri Paduka Steven Chong who presided over the appellate court on June 10, assisted by Justices Conrad Seagroatt and Michael Peter Burrell, found no discrepancies in the Intermediate Court’s findings on the prosecution’s case and decision to convict the appellant.
The Court of Appeal also saw that the sentence handed was in no way excessive.
“The appellant’s history of sex crimes goes as far back as 1985 when he was convicted of outraging the modesty of a woman,” the Chief Justice said.
He pondered further over the fact that the appellant had three previous rape convictions out of the sexual offences.
The court took into account the victim’s young age and that she had been victimised in the sanctity of her own home.
“This sex offender is an obvious threat to women across all age ranges,” the court concluded on increasing the appellant’s imprisonment term.
