SCHOOL teacher Wazir Khan, who was sentenced last month to three years imprisonment and fined $1M for the sexual assault of an underage girl, is now out of prison on $250,000 bail pending an appeal of his conviction and sentence. High Court judge, Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, on December 18, granted Khan’s bail application with the condition that he lodges his passport with the court. On November 26, Khan was convicted by Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court for the offence, which read that, on March 9, 2019, he engaged in sexual activity with a child under the age of 16, abusing a position of trust.

Dissatisfied with the magistrate’s decision, Khan, through an attorney, filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal arguing that his conviction cannot stand. He is asking that his sentence be set aside. According to the court documents seen by this newspaper, one of the grounds for appeal is that Magistrate Daly showed unconstrained human emotions with the victim’s evidence, which led to her erring in law. Another ground stated that the magistrate made an error of law when she considered that there was a “strong suspicion” that Khan may have committed the offence. This suspicion, the document read, could not justify upholding a conviction in all the circumstances of the present case. Lastly, Khan requested an early hearing of his appeal.