Another alleged victim has testified in a high-profile voyeurism trial in Halifax, saying she awoke to find a stranger in her bedroom, crouched at her bedside and staring her in the eyes.
The university student is just one of five women testifying against 50-year-old Barry Sinclair, who is charged with two counts of break and enter and three counts of voyeurism.
He is accused of watching and photographing women in their homes in the south end of Halifax.
The young woman, whose identify is protected under a publication ban, told the court the sound of a fan scraping across the floor in front of her bedroom door, combined with the glow of a hallway light left on, woke her up on Sept. 15, 2011.
When she opened her eyes, she said she was face-to-face with a strange man who was crouched at her bedside, staring blankly back at her.
Startled and surprised by the encounter, she said she swore at the man and he left. She then called police.
“He came into my house on September 15 at five in the morning,” she testified. “The back door was left open and that’s what happened. It was obviously very traumatizing, but I’ve moved on from that.”
She told the court she has been unable to sleep at night since the incident, which forced her to leave the home she shared with her four best friends.
“Obviously someone breaking into your room is never a good feeling. You're not as secure as you think you are. Always check your doors; you never think it's going to be you. I just think girls should lock their doors. “
Monday in court, another student living in a different house spoke about a similar incident on the same morning.
Police arrested Sinclair later that afternoon, but the woman was unable to identify the accused in a photo lineup, so he was released.
However, police followed Sinclair and arrested him for trespassing two nights later.
The woman who testified Tuesday says no matter the outcome of the trial, she is glad she had the chance to tell her story in court.
“If someone breaches on your security and safety I think it's important to stand up for that.”
The trial continues Wednesday.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl