UPDATE: Birtch Trial Verdict Explained

Thursday, 8 August 2024 06:05

Trevor Birtch has been found guilty on two of the three charges he was on trial for.

UPDATE - It was a long discussion by the Judge as he recounted the alleged events, which the charges stem from.

The judge began the day going over the alleged events that were gone over during the trial. That article done by Heart FM can be found here. There was a lot of talk from the judge regarding the credibility of the witnesses and the weight their testimony held for each alleged event. The judge found Birtch was not reliable in the information he gave during the trial for the most part, where as the complaintant was found to be creditable in the judge's eyes.

When it comes to count one, which was the assault in July 2021, the judge said he rejected Birtch's evidence and found without a doubt the the complainant was telling the truth regarding the events that happened on that day. As a result Trevor Birtch was found guilty of the charge.

For the second count, which was the sexual assault in February 2021, the judge once again looked at the evidence and testimony provided and said that he could not believe what Birtch said in the testimony, instead finding the truth in the testimony of the complaintant. The judge found Birtch guilty.

On the final count, which was the sexual assault in December 2021, the judge had a bit more trouble with finding the exact truth of what took place on the day of the alleged incident. The judge said there were holes in all the testimonies, which in his mind created reasonable doubt. As a result, Birtch was found not guilty on the third charge relating to the trial.

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LONDON - The verdict is only hours away in the first trial against former Woodstock Mayor Trevor Birtch

He was in a London courtroom for a four-day judge-alone trial in late May, answering to the one count of assault and two counts of sexual assault he was charged with in February 2022. You can read a recap of the trial online here.

After hearing testimony from the Crown and the Defense, the judge decided to delay the verdict until August 8th.

It will be delivered at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon and Heart FM's Kyle Freel will be in the courtroom. He will call the studio and post all the details on our website later.