Kota Kinabalu: A 24-year-old man who was sentenced to 33 years jail and 19 lashes of the cane on two counts of sexual offence against his 10-year-old sister failed in his appeal against his conviction and sentences.
High Court Judge Datuk Dr. Lim Hock Leng dismissed the man’s appeal after hearing submissions from both his counsel and the prosecution.
The court affirmed the conviction and sentences passed by the Sessions Court judge.
On May 18, 2023, the man was convicted by the Sessions Court here on two charges against him.
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On the second count, he was handed 12 years jail and ordered given seven lashes of the cane for sodomising the same victim at the same place, also in 2017.
The man was ordered to serve the imprisonment sentences consecutively from the date of his conviction on May 18, 2023.
The first count under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of between eight years and 30 years and whipping not less than 10 times, on conviction, while the second count under Section 377A of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, if convicted.
The appellant’s counsel Datuk Bernard J. Dalinting, raised issues, among others, that the trial judge had erred in law and failed to consider his testimonies that he and the victim had an argument before that led to the victim making false allegations against him.
Bernard also submitted that the sentences imposed was manifestly excessive and that the trial judge had erred in law by ordering the sentences for the charges to run consecutively.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Dacia Jane Romanus applied for the appeal to be dismissed and submitted that the alleged fact that the appellant and the victim had strained relationship was never mentioned to the victim and therefore, relegated to as an afterthought.
On the sentence, DPP Dacia submitted that the sentences imposed was appropriate as the case had gone on for a full trial and that the sentence pass was well within the ambit of the law and not manifestly excessive.
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