Complainant said she was going to ‘sleep with’ sailor, defence witness says

HALIFAX — A British petty officer has testified he overheard a woman who alleges she was gang raped tell her friend that she was going to “sleep with” a sailor on the night in question.

Paul Hoskins said he was inside the barracks at 12 Wing Shearwater, where the Royal Navy hockey team was staying during a naval hockey tournament, in April 2015.

“I was walking back from the bathroom … as I was going to bed,” said Hoskins, testifying by video link.

“Just before as you go into my room, I heard (the complainant) saying that she was going to sleep with Simon (Radford) and that (her friend) was going to sleep with (another sailor).”

The Crown objected to the comment being allowed as evidence, saying it violated Criminal Code provisions prohibiting the exploration of a complainant’s prior sexual history.

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Justice Patrick Duncan allowed the defence to proceed with questioning the witness, and for the Crown to ask questions about the comment. He said he would later determine whether he would consider that evidence as part of his verdict at the trial.

The complainant has testified she went to sleep in Radford’s bed, and that she gave him a kiss, as if to say thank you for letting her sleep there. She said she awoke to at least three men sexually assaulting her.

Another British sailor, Darren Smalley, 38, is charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm and participating in a sexual assault involving one or more people.

Hoskins, a petty officer with the Royal Navy, said the complainant seemed “happy, enthusiastic” when she said was going to sleep with Radford.

He conceded under cross-examination by the Crown that he told police during his interview that he overheard the woman say she was going to be “with” the U.K. sailor, but he did not mention the word “sleep.”

He said at the time of the interview, he did not recall exactly what the woman had said.

“I remembered it more as the days went on,” said Hoskins. “It’s significant, so it has stayed in my mind, that conversation.”

He also said the young woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, appeared “comfortable” while in the barracks that night, but that hockey team members found her to be “loud” and “obnoxious.”

Hoskins, who drove with the complainant to the beer store at one point in the evening, contradicted her testimony about what happened after they arrived back at the barracks.

He said they both noticed her friend and another sailor going into a bedroom in the barracks and close the door.

“We laughed together about it,” said Hoskins, the defence’s second witness. “She thought it was quite funny.”

The complainant had testified she lost her friend when they got back to the barracks, and that she became panicked because she had no idea where she was.

Owen James, a member of the Royal Marines, testified Monday there was a commotion in the barracks on the night in question, and so he and fellow marine Brandon Hubbs went to the doorway of one of the rooms.

James, who is a Canadian citizen, said he opened the door and told the occupants to be quiet.

He said he could see a female figure under the sheets in one of the beds, and that she said something like: “You’re just jealous you’re not the one getting laid.”

Hubbs, who was standing next to James in the doorway, testified last Thursday that the female said: “You’re just jealous you’re not getting some.”

The trial resumes Tuesday morning, at which point defence lawyer Ian Hutchison will indicate “how we wish to proceed.”

The case once involved four accused, but charges against Radford were stayed earlier in the trial because he was in hospital with a serious infection. The charges can be reinstituted within one year.

Charges against two other sailors have been dropped.

The Crown said it would not proceed with charges against Joshua Finbow after Duncan ruled his statement to police was inadmissible.

The justice ruled Finbow’s Charter rights to consult counsel immediately and in private were violated after he had to wait almost an hour and a half to see a lawyer.

Charges were withdrawn against Craig Stoner several days into a preliminary inquiry in April 2016.

Follow (at)AlyThomson on Twitter.

Aly Thomson, The Canadian Press