The accused was tried on historical domestic violence allegations, a sexual assault allegation, and a later allegation that he breached a release order by indirectly communicating with the complainant through a third party.
Applying the W. (D.) framework, the court found the complainant had credibility problems on some peripheral matters, but accepted her account of the 2015 incident sufficiently to find that the accused restrained her from leaving and grabbed her arm, constituting assault and forcible confinement.
On the sexual assault count, the court was not able to reject the accused's version of events and was left with a reasonable doubt.
The court accepted the third-party witness's evidence about the 2022 conversation and found the accused guilty of indirectly communicating with the complainant in breach of his release order.
