PUTRAJAYA: A former driving school instructor began serving an eight-year jail sentence on Tuesday (Jan 6) after the Court of Appeal reinstated his conviction for physical sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl in 2021.
Lim Yoke Pin, 75, had previously been discharged and acquitted by the High Court of the offence.
A three-member Court of Appeal bench comprising Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah, Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz, and Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid allowed the prosecution’s appeal, setting aside Lim’s acquittal and reinstating the Sessions Court’s decision that convicted him of the offence.
Judge Hayatul Akmal, who delivered the court's decision, said the victim was consistent in her testimony that Lim had groped her breasts and genitals.
She also said there was no evidence to show the victim had a motive to frame Lim.
However, judge Hayatul Akmal said after taking into account Lim's age, the court set aside the 12-year prison sentence and three strokes of the cane imposed on Lim by the Sessions Court and replaced it with eight years in prison.
She ordered Lim to serve an eight-year sentence starting Tuesday.
On June 9, 2023, the Raub Sessions Court found Lim guilty of physical sexual assault of the girl in Jalan Desa Damai, Bentong at 3 pm on March 14, 2021. The court sentenced him to 12 years in jail and three strokes of the rotan.
On July 29, last year, the High Court acquitted and discharged Lim of the offence which prompted the prosecution to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
At the appeal hearing in the Court of Appeal, deputy public prosecutor Zaki Asyraf Zubir said the High Court erred in facts and law when it acquitted Lim of the charge.
He said the Sessions Court judge had in fact made a finding that the victim’s testimony was unusually convincing.
However, Lim’s lawyer Chong Pei Yen urged the court to uphold the High Court’s decision, arguing that the victim did not report the incident to the police immediately and only filed a report an hour later. — Bernama
