A New Zealand man who raped a 13-year-old girl has had eight months wiped from his sentence despite showing no remorse for his actions.
Sanjay Kumar Chand Rana, 38, was sentenced in Auckland District Court to nine years in jail for raping and committing an indecent act on the girl.
Rana and his wife were looking after the girl while her mother was in hospital.
While the girl was collecting her clothes from her house, he indecently touched her and raped her on her parents' bed.
But Rana appealed the sentence, saying he hadn't been given a discount for previous good character.
The Court of Appeal agreed and reduced his sentence to eight years and four months.
But in the judgment released this week, Justice Ian Harrison, Justice Lowell Goddard and Justice Geoffrey Venning said it was "troubling" that Rana had expressed no remorse for his offending.
He had been assessed by the Probation Service of having a high risk of reoffending.
Letters written by his family, friends and supporters attesting to his good character weren't taken into account as there was no evidence of any particularly positive contribution by Rana to society in general, the judges found.
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