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PUTRAJAYA - A former bowling coach, already serving a prison term for sexual assault, was sentenced to an additional two years' imprisonment by the Court of Appeal today for molesting another former Malaysia Games male athlete in 2017.
A three-member bench led by Federal Court judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin, sitting as a Court of Appeal judge, ordered Mat Salleh Jalani to begin serving the two-year sentence after completing his six-year prison term for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old male athlete in 2018.
The bench, which also comprised Justices Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid, allowed the prosecution's appeal to set aside the High Court's decision to acquit and discharge Mat Salleh of the charge.
The court reinstated the Magistrates' Court’s conviction and increased the sentence from 18 months to two years' imprisonment.
In delivering the unanimous decision, Justice Hayatul Akmal said the High Court judge erred in assessing the available evidence and misdirected himself in finding SP3's (the third prosecution witness and the victim) testimony unconvincing.
He held that the victim's credibility remained intact and that the court had carefully assessed their testimony.
He further found that the victim's evidence could stand on its own and was corroborated by other witnesses.
"Delay in lodging a police report regarding a sexual offence does not, in itself, undermine the victim's credibility," said Justice Hayatul Akmal, citing a Federal Court decision which recognised that victims may be reluctant to report such incidents for various reasons.
Mat Salleh, 63, was convicted by the Magistrates' Court on Jan 31, 2024, of outraging the modesty of the victim, who was then 13 years old.
The offence was committed in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, at 5 pm in May 2017. He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
On Aug 22 of the same year, the High Court acquitted and discharged him of the charge, prompting the prosecution to appeal.
At today's proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Nazneen Zulkifli urged the court to increase the sentence, submitting that this was not Mat Salleh's first offence and that he was currently serving a prison sentence in another case.
Defence lawyer Muhammad Faris Mohamad Fauzi had earlier requested that the court retain the prison sentence imposed by the Magistrates' Court.
On March 11 this year, the Court of Appeal upheld Mat Salleh's six-year imprisonment sentence for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old male athlete in 2018. - BERNAMA
