Former Malaysian military attaché Mohammed Rizalman Ismail, who pleaded guilty to the indecent assault of Wellington woman Tania Billingsley, has filed an appeal to his sentence, NZ Herald reported today. The former diplomat was sentenced to serve nine months of home detention at the Wellington High Court last month. During sentencing, Rizalman's lawyer was quoted as saying the offence did not warrant a sanction "as severe as home detention". A summary of facts read out to the New Zealand High Court said on May 9 last year, Billingsley was at her home in Brooklyn, Wellington, when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. Rizalman then reportedly entered naked from the waist down. She screamed and struggled against him, managing to push him out of the house before calling police. He allegedly told police the pair had been to the cinema together that day. However, it was not known whether Billingsley agreed to the detail. He said he had defecated outside the house as he had a case of emergency diarrhoea. His lawyer said Rizalman had been in an "abnormal mental state" at the time of the incident. He added that a doctor had found that stress, anxiety, potentially depression and potential misuse of drugs were to blame for Rizalman's state of mind. Indecent assault carries a maximum jail term of seven years in New Zealand. – March 7, 2016.]]>
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