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PUTRAJAYA – A former trainee teacher was sent to jail today to serve six years in jail, after he lost his appeal in the Court of Appeal here to set aside his conviction for sodomising a Year 1 pupil in 2016.
Mohamad Harman Faiz Hassin, 30, who was freed on an RM22,000 bail with one surety pending disposal of his appeal, was also ordered to be whipped twice.
A three-man bench, led by justice Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said, unanimously dismissed Harman’s appeal against his conviction for the sodomy offence, committed in a room at the Teachers’ Training Institute hostel, in Besut, Terengganu at about 1pm on September 17, 2016.
He said the sessions court had made correct findings based on the evidence, and that Harman’s conviction for the offence is safe.
Justice Kamaludin, however, allowed Harman’s appeal to reduce his jail term from 10 years to six years.
The judge said the court agreed to reduce Harman’s jail sentence, as the latter was young when he committed the offence and he was also a first offender.
Justice Kamaludin also said the six years’ jail would also take into account the time Harman had spent in jail before he was allowed bail by the high court pending disposal of his appeal.
The appellate court, which also comprised Court of Appeal judge Datuk Ahmad Nasfy Yasin and high court judge Azizul Azmi Adnan, also set aside the sessions court’s order for Harman to undergo a two-year period under police supervision upon the completion of his jail sentence.
On March 5, 2019, the sessions court found Harman guilty of sodomising a male student who was 12-years-old at the time and sentenced him to 14 years in jail and six strokes of the rotan.
He lost his appeal against conviction in the high court but succeeded in his appeal to get his jail term reduced to 10 years and two strokes of the rotan. He then filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Lawyer Datuk Jasbeer Singh Kaura, who represented Harman, told the media that his client had served about three and a half months in jail.
Deputy public prosecutor Fauziah Daud appeared for the prosecution. – Bernama, August 24, 2022
