A three-member bench chaired by Justice Azmi Ariffin ruled that the High Court was correct in ordering A Johnson’s sentences to run consecutively.
“The offences were committed on three separate girls at different times and it is settled law that the appellant should serve the sentences consecutively,” the judge said.
Despite his age, the father of five – who already has five prior convictions, including one for outraging modesty – will also receive nine strokes of the cane, as men over 50 are not exempt from whipping in sexual assault cases.
Also on the panel hearing the appeal were Justices Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid.
Earlier, lawyer M Manoharan urged the court to order the jail terms to run concurrently. “Moreover, he will be whipped. He is also a diabetic,” the lawyer added.
Deputy public prosecutor Solehah Noratikah Ismail, however, urged the bench to maintain the sentences because the offences involved three separate victims and took place in broad daylight.
She said Johnson threatened the girls with a knife to fulfil his desire and injured one of the victims in the process.
“His conduct has traumatised and psychologically scarred his victims for the rest of their lives,” she said.
Johnson was convicted of raping an 11-year-old girl at about 12.30pm on Feb 25, 2020.
He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting another girl, aged 14, at about 3pm on April 22, 2020, and committed the same offence on a 16-year-old girl at about 4pm on Aug 7, 2021.
All three offences were committed in a lift at a low-cost flat in Kuala Lumpur.
The sessions court sentenced Johnson to 10 years and three strokes of the rotan for each offence, ordering the sentences to run concurrently.
Following an appeal by the prosecution, the High Court enhanced Johnson’s jail sentence for rape to 12 years and maintained the 10-year jail terms for the sexual assault offences.
However, the High Court also ordered the jail terms to run consecutively, meaning Johnson will serve a total of 32 years behind bars.