Filenews 14 February 2023
An increase in the prison sentence from 10 to 15 years for a convicted person in a case of sexual abuse of minors, the Supreme Court decided, which upheld the appeal of the Attorney General. The Court of Appeal held that the sentence imposed at first instance was manifestly inadequate.
Specifically, the Supreme Court, in its judgment dated 7 February 2023 and in agreement with the position of the Attorney General, held that the criminal treatment of the accused through the imposition of concurrent sentences, led to the manifest inadequacy of the sentence and that the intervention of the Court of Appeal was justified, which decided that the prison sentence of 5 years on a number of charges that the defendant had been found guilty of was served successively with the prison sentence of 10 years that he had he had been charged on other charges he faced, and to which he was also found guilty. Therefore, the total amount of the prison sentence to be served by the accused is 15 years.
The Court of Appeal in its judgment commented that the facts of the case and the aggravating factors that had emerged, including the repeated unlawful conduct of the accused on three minor victims, made the present case extremely heinous. The need to impose severe and dissuasive penalties for offences such as this one was stressed once again.
The Attorney General of the Republic was represented by Ms. Mikaela Pasiardi, Senior Lawyer of the Republic.
