Ex-cabbie sentenced to two years in prison
A former Halifax taxi driver has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for sexually assaulting a woman eight years ago.
Bassam Al-rawi was convicted in August at a judge-alone trial for sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman at his apartment in Bedford in December 2012.
During the sentencing hearing at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax Thursday, Justice Gerald Moir said AlRawi will suffer “numerous collateral damage from a period of imprisonment,” such as being separated from his child, who is due in May, and his businesses in Germany suffering.
“In a hope that some of the consequences will be alleviated by the shorter imprisonment, but that is at the limit of the flexibility,” Moir said.
When reaching his decision, Moir said he considered the pre-sentence report, which put Al-rawi's circumstances in "very good light," Al-rawi's wife's statement, a doctor's letter about her pregnancy and the victim's impact statement.
In her victim impact
statement, the complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, discussed how the assault has affected her personal life, professional life and mental health.
“In order to heal, I’ve had to force myself to revisit the assault many times,” the woman, who appeared via video teleconference, read to the court.
“To add insult to injury, in order to ask for time off work for the trial, therapy or mental health time, I’ve repeatedly had to take the risk and disclose my assault to my workplace superiors in what often can be very uncomfortable and vulnerable conversations.”
She said she hasn’t had a serious romantic relationship in eight years and she is now afraid to take a taxi, despite it being unavoidable.
“Many of these impacts I will have to deal with for the rest of my life,” the woman said.
Crown attorney Carla Ball recommended Al-rawi serve three to four years in prison, while urging the court to sentence him at the high-end of that range.
“The 2020 era really emphasized an enlightened reflection on recognition that sexual violence has such a significant impact and the court has to denounce the conduct in a way that’s meaningful,” Ball said.
But defence lawyer Ian Hutchison submitted that Al-rawi should receive a non-custodial sentence, or be imprisoned for two years at the most.
“There are significant consequences for him ... in terms of what he’s going to miss in the foreseeable future,” Hutchison said.
Hutchison also argued the “extensive media coverage” of Al-rawi’s case has caused his client to occasionally fear for his safety in Halifax Regional Municipality and difficulty in obtaining employment and finding a place for his wife to stay.
“In Mr. Al-rawi’s case, those comments, those pictures, those articles are going to remain on the internet longer, my lord, than our appearance before the court today,” Hutchison said.
“Ten, 20 years, 30 years down the road, my lord, when Mr. Al-rawi’s name is entered into the internet, it’s likely these articles will reappear.”
Moir said the devastating impacts of sexual assaults have been recognized in Nova Scotia, and a non-custodial sentence would offend the principle of parity and the principle of proportionality.
“I accept his wife’s statement about the severely adverse effects separation by imprisonment will have on her,” Moir said. “Also, I accept her statements about the severe impacts of such on the businesses.”
Moir said while he has flexibility in his decision, it “cannot be used to impose inappropriate and artificial sentences in order to avoid collateral consequences.”
Al-rawi, who stared straight ahead as Moir gave his decision, hugged his wife and held her hand before he was taken away by the sheriffs.
He was also ordered to provide a DNA sample, must register as a sex offender for 20 years after he gets out of prison, and will be prohibited from having firearms for 10 years.
Ball said although the Crown was asking for a longer sentence, it respects Moir’s decision.
“It’s always a balancing act and the judge did put a lot of emphasis on the consequences which are tremendous to Mr. Al-rawi, but he did not lose sight of, the Crown would say, of the impact that it has generally,” Ball said.
Ball said she hopes this shows that if a person comes forward with their truth about something that happens, they stand by it and persevere, they can make a difference.