HALIFAX -- A former Halifax taxi driver who sexually assaulted a passenger in 2012 has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Bassam Al-Rawi was found guilty of sexual assault in August. He was handed the two-year sentence in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Thursday.
During the judge-alone trial, the complainant -- whose identity is protected by a court-imposed publication ban -- told the court she was intoxicated in downtown Halifax in December 2012, when a taxi driver picked her up.
The woman said the driver took her to his apartment, where he sexually assaulted her while she pretended to be unconscious.
Al-Rawi's lawyer said there were gaps in the woman's memory, but Justice Gerald Moir said he believed the complainant.
This is not the first time Al-Rawi has been accused of sexually assaulting a passenger while working as a taxi driver in Halifax. He was previously charged with sexually assaulting another woman in his cab in 2015, but was acquitted in that case.
