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| Brian Drew Apthorp (left) is escorted by his lawyers to a waiting luxury van after pleading not guilty to two charges of indecently assaulting his Filipina domestic helper. |
The stage was set today for the retrial of a retired British doctor accused of indecently assaulting his Filipino domestic helper in his home on two occasions.
Principal Magistrate Ada Yim scheduled the trial of Brian Drew Apthorp, 84, for November 15-18. She also extended his $201,000 bail.
This developed after Apthorp pleaded not guilty to the two
charges that were read to him at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
He was accused him of using deception and threats to make “X”
submit to a purported body check and pap smear and later, of forcing her to
give him daily massages while fondling himself or committing other sexual acts.
Prosecutors asked for the four days to present six
witnesses, video recordings and other pieces of evidence to prove their case
that Apthorp indecently assaulted “X” on Sept. 11, 2018 and on April 4 2019 in
his house in Shouson Hill.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye |
The prosecution witnesses will include X and the arresting officer.
Defense lawyers on the other hand proposed to present two witnesses. They told magistrate Yim that these would be actual witnesses, including Apthorp himself.
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On July 15 last year, Eastern Magistrate Daniel Tang found
Apthorp guilty on both counts and sentenced him to 30 months in prison.
But on appeal, High Court Judge Esther Toh set aside the conviction, ruling that
magistrate Tang was wrong in refusing to let a lawyer hired belatedly by
Apthorp to cross-examine X.
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Apthorp did the questioning and cross-examination of X by
himself in the first two days of his trial, but later on hired solicitor Jonathan
Midgley to defend him.
In her judgment, Judge Toh said, “Because of that refusal,
justice had not been seen to be done, and therefore, the conviction is clearly
unsafe and unsatisfactory.”
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Apthorp faces another legal battle at the High Court. He is appealing against a decision by Judge Russel Coleman last April 23, ordering the police to reinvestigate X’s complaint that she and two other former domestic helpers of Apthorp were also victims of sex trafficking and forced labor.
Lawyers acting for X had sought leave for a judicial review
of the police decision not to charge Apthorp for the two offenses, citing video
and photographic evidence.
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Judge Coleman granted the leave and said the lack of a
“bespoke” law on human trafficking makes it difficult for prosecutions of this
nature to proceed.
But he said such legislations should not only cover FDWs as
urged by the applicant’s counsel, but all other people who might be victims of
forced labor and exploitation under section 4 of the Bill of Rights.
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