Nova Scotia’s highest court has ordered a new trial for a sex worker convicted of assault for stabbing a client she said was sexually assaulting her.
The woman had been convicted for stabbing Douglas Barrett in the back in his Sydney, N.S., home on Sept. 19, 2015.
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During the trial, she said she was afraid of Barrett but had agreed to go with him in order to get money she needed for drugs.
She testified that Barrett forced himself on top of her despite her saying “no,” and she drove a knife in his back in self-defence.
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In their decision, three judges from the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal say the trial judge erred in his application of the law of self-defence and the law of consent.
They have ordered a new trial.