KUALA LUMPUR: A man, sentenced to 16 years' jail for incest with his teenage niece, was allowed a reduced jail term of 12 years after the High Court took into consideration that he was only 19 at the time of the offence in 2005.

Judge Suraya Othman, in her decision on the man's appeal to have his sentence reduced to eight years, said he was young and should be given another chance by society.

The man, from Sarawak, pleaded guilty on July 2 last year to two counts of incest committed in 2005 with his 15-year-old niece. He committed the offence in his sister's apartment in Sentul.

He was sentenced to eight years and two strokes for each charge, the sentences to run consecutively.

Suraya, however, said the jail term should not be a "crushing sentence" where it runs too long for the accused to serve as a lesson.
She reduced the jail term to six years for each offence with two strokes, the sentences to run consecutively.