Court of Appeal cuts couple's trafficking sentence to four years, citing their children

The Court of Appeal has reduced seven-year prison sentences imposed on a husband and wife convicted of trafficking and procuring a Russian national for prostitution, cutting each term to four years after taking the circumstances of their children into special consideration.

A two-judge bench comprising Justices P. Kumararatnam and Pradeep Hettiarachchi delivered the judgment on an appeal against convictions entered by the Colombo High Court. The offences related to conduct between 2019 and 2020.

The convictions

The first accused, the wife, was convicted of trafficking by recruiting the woman through fraud or deception and bringing her to Sri Lanka for prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation. She was also convicted on three counts of procuration. The second accused, her husband, was convicted of aiding and abetting the offences.

The High Court had sentenced each to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment on each of three counts, with fines of Rs. 25,000 per count and orders to pay Rs. 500,000 in compensation. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

The mitigation accepted

Counsel submitted that the couple’s children had been affected by their imprisonment. The first accused has two sons from a previous marriage, while a seven-year-old daughter from her present marriage had been placed in a child care home. The second accused, a three-wheeler driver, was described as the family’s sole breadwinner, with responsibility for his mother and a sister at university.

The Deputy Solicitor General, appearing for the Attorney General, agreed the sentence was an appropriate matter for reconsideration given the children’s vulnerable situation.

The court observed that sentencing requires weighing several factors, including the circumstances in which an offence was committed, the seriousness of the offence, deterrence, protection of the community and rehabilitation. It reduced the term on each count to four years’ rigorous imprisonment, to run concurrently. The fines and compensation orders imposed by the High Court were left unchanged.