KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 ― A New Zealand court ruled today that former Malaysian embassy staff Muhammad Rizalman Ismail had a sexual motive when he indecently assaulted a New Zealander woman.
New Zealand news website New Zealand Herald reported that Justice David Collins of the Wellington High Court had sided with the prosecutor’s arguments about Rizalman, who had entered Tania Billingsley’s home on May 9 last year and went into her bedroom half-naked.
“Mr Rizalman had a sexual motive when he followed Ms Billingsley to her home on the evening on May 9, 2014, and when he entered her bedroom naked from the waist down,” Collins was quoted saying.
“Mr Rizalman may have had 'diminished understanding' at the time he indecently assaulted Ms Billingsley. However, Mr Rizalman's possible 'diminished understanding' is not a mitigating factor because at the time of his offending Mr Rizalman was, in all likelihood, affected by synthetic cannabis,” he added.
According to the New Zealand Herald, Rizalman, 39, has admitted to defecating outside Billingsley’s house, but said it was because of diarrhoea and that he had entered the Wellington woman’s house ― without underwear or trousers ― to clean himself up.
Prosecutors have reportedly argued that Rizalman had a sexual motive and suggested that the former assistant to Malaysia’s defence attache was trying to cast a love spell on Billingsley by defecating on her patio.
According to New Zealand Herald, Rizalman is expected to be sentenced next year after he pleaded guilty to a charge of indecent assault over the incident in which he had a tussle with Billingsley when he entered her bedroom half-naked.
The judge reportedly ordered a pre-sentence report and a report to determine Rizalman’s suitability for home detention.
Rizalman’s defence has reportedly argued that he was suffering from mental illness at the time of the attack.
