Music teacher and repeat sex offender Malcolm Winston Day will die in jail after conviction for crimes against second victim

A music teacher who abused a talented student will never leave jail after another victim came forward, a court has heard.

She was a talented music student whose performances were so greatly in demand, years before graduation, that her future career was all but assured.

Instead of fostering those gifts, music teacher Malcolm Winston Day preyed upon his student’s vulnerabilities and groomed her to fulfil his own pedophilic desires.

As she struggled to recover from the abuse, the student had no idea she was but the first of Day’s victims – crimes for which he was convicted and jailed almost two years ago.

On Friday, the District Court was asked to increase Day’s existing 12-year sentence to account for his earliest offending, with no consideration given to his advanced age.

Stephen Ey, for Day, conceded there was but one outcome for his client.

“He is 80 years old and the current average life expectancy for a male is 82.9 years,” he said.

“Given that he still has six years to go on his current non-parole period, it’s likely that he will die in jail … he has to face up to that.”

Malcolm Winston Day outside the Adelaide Magistrates Court prior to his first conviction. Picture: Sean Fewster.

Day was a music teacher in the 1980s when he abused each of his victims.

His second victim was the first to report her abuse, which occurred over the course of dozens of piano lessons while she was 10 years old.

On Friday, the first victim’s impact statement was read to the court – she said Day had robbed her of the “ephemeral beauty” of creating music.

“I was an intelligent girl with a musical aptitude and what seemed to be an obvious future in music … it was the central focus of my life,” she said.

“I felt confident and accomplished when I performed, music was simply where I belonged.

“Your selfish and disgusting conduct changed my life … you poisoned my life for your own pleasure.”

Prosecutors asked the court to impose a sentence of no less than 10 years’ jail on top of Day’s existing sentence, given the crimes were unrelated and not a single course of conduct.

Mr Ey said he could not resist that, and also declined to read Day’s letter of apology to the court – Judge Jo-Anne Deuter agreed that was appropriate.

“I have some concern about the ‘apology’ and the extent it goes to … some of the comments there would suggest his insight is still lacking,” she said.

She remanded Day in custody for sentencing in three weeks’ time.