Former Halifax taxi driver committed two acts of sexual offence, Crown tells court

Warning: This story contains details of an alleged sexual assault that may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised. 

Bassam Al-Rawi had his female passenger’s DNA on his lip because he kissed her somewhere on her lower body, Crown prosecutor Jennifer MacLellan submitted to the court.

The Crown’s closing arguments Friday presented two elements of sexual offence committed by Al-Rawi to Judge Ann Marie Simmons.

The first offence comes from Al-Rawi removing the unconscious female’s pants and underwear, Crown said, and the second comes from him kissing her without consent.

The burden of proof lies with the Crown to prove Al-Rawi’s guilt and MacLellan told Judge Simmons they have achieved that task.

MacLellan asked Simmons to accept the evidence that Const. Monia Thibault gave when she testified about finding Al-Rawi’s taxi and arresting him around 1:19 am on May 23, 2015.

Const. Thibault’s version of events is that she came across Al-Rawi’s taxi parked on a south end street. When she approached the taxi, Al-Rawi was allegedly found between the legs of the unconscious woman, partially naked with her shirt lifted up enough that her breasts were revealed.

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Const. Thibault told the court that she didn’t immediately register what she was seeing, saying she wasn’t expecting to come across a sexual assault when she approached the taxi.

She also told the court that she wasn’t sure whether the brake lights were on or not. The defence’s theory is that Al-Rawi couldn’t possibly have been turned towards the backseat of the car and in between the legs of the female, because his foot was still on the brake pedal and the car was in drive.

The Crown submitted to the court that Al-Rawi didn’t have the female’s DNA on his fingers, which would likely be the case if he brushed his face after she allegedly kissed his cheek, as he suggested.

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The Crown submitted that the female’s DNA was on his lips because he had kissed her somewhere, but whether or not that was during the act of oral sex or not, the Crown doesn’t know.

MacLellan said the fact remains that the DNA is there.

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The defence submitted in their closing arguments that it would be complex and borderline brazen for Al-Rawi to choose a residential neighbourhood, with occupied homes and the potential of people walking by, as a place to sexually assault his passenger.

The Crown argued that the neighbourhood was a location Al-Rawi chose due to it being secluded, dark, quiet and with grain elevators in the back, blocking excessive traffic.

Const. Thibault’s evidence that she had to shake the female by her shoulders in order to rouse her supports the Crown’s theory, which is that she was unresponsive while in the backseat of Al-Rawi’s taxi and not able to consent to any sexual touching.

Al-Rawi had no comment to share as he left the court with his wife in tow.