The appellant was convicted of sexual assault.
At trial, the judge refused to edit the appellant's criminal record, which included a prior sexual assault conviction, but failed to properly instruct the jury in her final charge on the limited use of that record.
The trial judge also erred by admitting a hearsay statement made by the complainant to a friend for the truth of its contents, and by failing to adequately remedy an incorrect mid-trial ruling regarding the materiality of the date of the offence.
The Court of Appeal held that the cumulative effect of these errors deprived the appellant of a fair trial.
The appeal was allowed and a new trial ordered.
