The Court of Appeal has reduced the sentence imposed on a man convicted after trial of two counts of carnal intercourse against the order of nature involving two boys under the age of 14.
In a judgment delivered on June 16, Chief Justice Dato Seri Paduka Steven Chong, and Justices of Appeal Michael Lunn and Edward Timothy Starbuck Woolley allowed the appeal in part, reducing the total sentence from 33 years’ imprisonment and 20 strokes of the cane to 25 years’ imprisonment and 15 strokes.
The appellant was convicted after trial on two charges under Section 377(2) of the Penal Code involving a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy. The offences were committed in 2019 and 2020.
The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge had erred by adopting a starting point of 24 years’ imprisonment for each charge before reducing the sentences, despite the appellant having been convicted after a full trial. The appellate court held there was no basis for granting a sentencing discount following conviction after trial and ruled that the sentencing discretion had miscarried.
Sentencing the appellant afresh, the court imposed 20 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for each charge. It ordered five years of one sentence to run consecutively with the other, resulting in a total sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment and 15 strokes.
The court said consecutive sentences were appropriate as the offences involved separate victims and occurred on different occasions. However, it found the original aggregate sentence excessive when considered under the totality principle.
In its judgment, the court also reminded prosecutors of their duty during sentencing proceedings, stating that counsel should respectfully alert the court if it appears that a judge is sentencing on an incorrect factual basis.
The Public Prosecutor was represented by Deputy Public Prosecutors Ahmad Firdaus Haji Mohammad and Nurulatikah Haji Husaini.