Lawyers for Lam Kuoth have lodged an appeal against his two year suspended sentence for HIV exposure, claiming it is "manifestly excessive".
Story from the Herald Sun, below, which also was printed in a later editions under the rather sarcastic headline: 'Freedom too harsh for HIV-positive man'
HIV-positive refugee appeals on 'harsh' sentence
Norrie Ross
August 22, 2008
AN HIV-positive refugee who had unprotected sex with a young woman claims his suspended jail term was too harsh.
Lam Kuoth, 29, was sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for three years, and was given a community-based order in the County Court earlier this month.
Kuoth who came to Australia from Sudan in 2006 and lives in Geelong pleaded guilty to two counts of recklessly endangering another person.
His lawyers lodged an appeal against the sentence with the Court of Appeal yesterday claiming the suspended term was "manifestly excessive".
The court will rule in the next few months if he can win permission to appeal.
Sentencing judge Paul Lacava heard that Kuoth knew of his HIV status when he twice had unprotected sex with his unwitting 24-year-old victim in April last year.
He acted in defiance of public health orders that required him to use a condom.
Kuoth also had unprotected sex with another woman but she did not want to be involved in any prosecution, the court was told.
That woman has since had his child and the child, now eight months, is not believed to be HIV-positive.
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