Court of Appeal reduces Lundu paedophile’s jail sentence to 32 years from original 50 year term

KUCHING (March 9): Internationally listed paedophile from Lundu, Alladin Lanim, got his custodial sentence reduced to 32 years from 50, by the Court of Appeal here on Monday, while retaining 31 strokes of the cane.

The panel, chaired by Datuk Wong Kian Kheong together with Datuk Alwi Abdul Wahab and Datin Paduka Evrol Mariette Peters, allowed his appeal and ordered that three of the prison sentences imposed on him run concurrently.

National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK) counsel Chai Yuen Hui, who represented Alladin, now aged 45, urged the court to consider a more compassionate sentence for his client, arguing that other offences of a more serious nature had attracted lighter sentences by comparison.

Chai further informed the court that the appellant accepted the whipping sentence imposed without conditions and did not challenge the decision.

He added that the appellant had expressed remorse for his actions and had pleaded guilty at an early stage of the proceedings.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Shamala Jaganathan argued that the appellant had failed to demonstrate any error in principle or that the sentence imposed was excessive.

She submitted that the sentence was fair and proportionate, and that the order for the prison terms to run consecutively was appropriate to reflect the overall gravity of the offences and to protect society.

In January of 2024, Sessions Court Judge Iris Awen Jon convicted Alladin, on his guilty plea under Section 5, 6, and 7 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

He was sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment and 10 strokes of the cane for under Section 5; five years’ imprisonment and three strokes of the cane under Section 6; and 13 years’ imprisonment and eight strokes of the cane under Section 7.

The Court of Appeal on Monday ruled that the prison terms imposed should be served concurrently.

Meanwhile, Sessions Court judge Musli Ab Hamid had also convicted the appellant, who pleaded guilty, under Section 7 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

Musli ordered the appellant to serve 10 years’ imprisonment and receive 10 strokes of the cane for the offence, to run consecutively after the prison sentence imposed by Iris.

Based on the facts of the case, in 2021 police raided the appellant’s quarters and arrested him after discovering numerous child sexual abuse images and videos on his mobile phone.

Investigations revealed that the images and videos were produced by the appellant, who had previously used the victims in the production.

In committing the offence, the appellant gave one of the victims another mobile phone to play games, while he recorded videos and took photographs of himself performing sexual acts on the child.

It is understood that a total of 7,371 images and 2,541 videos involving the victims and several other children were recovered.