HALIFAX—The sexual assault charge against a Halifax taxi driver has been dropped due to “no realistic prospect of conviction.”

Farset Mohammad’s judge-alone trial was scheduled to begin in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Monday, related to an alleged sexual assault in a cab in downtown Halifax that police say happened in June 2015.

However, in a brief appearance on Monday, Crown attorney Kim McOnie told Justice Timothy Gabriel that they would be offering no evidence in the case.

Gabriel then told Mohammad, sitting in the public gallery behind defence lawyer Laura McCarthy, that the charge against him had been dismissed and he was free to go.

Outside court, McOnie told reporters that the Crown had determined “that there was no realistic prospect of conviction” in the case.

When asked if anything had changed on the complainant’s side, McOnie said she was not going to talk about the evidence, but “it was a combination of factors.”

McOnie said the Crown considered the total evidence, what was heard at the preliminary inquiry in 2017, and “some recent developments,” all of which contributed to the decision.

Municipal spokesperson Erin DiCarlo said in an email Monday that in every case where a taxi driver is charged with a criminal offence, their license is suspended pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.

After the court outcome has been determined, DiCarlo said HRM then would “look at the circumstances, evidence presented, and outcome of the trial to determine whether we feel the person is fit to be behind the wheel” to decide if they should be granted a license whenever they reapply for one.

“Our focus is primarily on public safety,” DiCarlo wrote.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Haley Ryan is a Halifax-based reporter covering women�s issues and advocacy. Follow her on Twitter: @hkryan17

Read more about: