Bedford man pleads guilty to one count of harassment, 18 other charges dismissed

All but one of the charges against a young Bedford man who was accused of groping or harassing several women in his neighbourhood over the past two summers have been dismissed in Halifax provincial court. 

Mohammad Jamal Shned Al-Dulaimi, 19, faced six counts of sexual assault and seven of criminal harassment from incidents in 2022, one count of sexual assault from an event in 2023 and five of breaching his release conditions.

Al-Dulaimi was scheduled to stand trial last month on the 13 charges from 2022 but instead pleaded guilty to just one count of harassment, involving a woman who lives in his Broad Street apartment building.

Judge Elizabeth Buckle accepted a joint recommendation from defence lawyer Kristyn Stevens and Crown attorney Sam Allen for a conditional discharge with a year’s probation.

The judge dismissed the other 12 charges after the prosecutor offered no evidence on them.

One week later, Al-Dulaimi’s six charges from 2023 were in front of Judge Christine Driscoll for a pretrial conference. Those matters were also dismissed after the Crown announced it was not proceeding with the prosecution.

Al-Dulaimi’s probation order requires him to have no contact with the victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, and stay away from the floor of the building she lives on unless he is accompanied by a parent.

He also must take part in any counselling or programming deemed necessary by his probation officer.

Al-Dulaimi was born in Iraq and has permanent resident status in Canada. If he successfully completes his term of probation, the conviction will be discharged, and he will not have a criminal record.

Neither the defence nor the Crown would provide details about why most of the charges against Al-Dulaimi went away.

“After an extensive review of the file, the Crown determined there was no realistic prospect of conviction on (the) remaining charges and offered no evidence,” Public Prosecution service spokeswoman Melissa Noonan said in an email Wednesday.

During a bail hearing last summer, defence lawyer Lonny Queripel said there were problems with some of the Crown’s evidence on the issue of identity.

The original 13 charges against Al-Dulaimi were from nine incidents that took place between Aug. 3 and Aug. 27, 2022. Those encounters happened on the Kearney Lake Dam Trail, on a trail in the 0-100 block of Amesbury Gate near Larry Uteck Boulevard, and at the apartment building where Al-Dulaimi lives with his family.

Al-Dulaimi was arrested again July 21. 2023, and charged with sexually assaulting another woman in the area of Tilbury Avenue and Innsbrook Way and breaching his bail conditions.

The Crown opposed Al-Dulaimi’s release on the new charges and revoked his September 2022 bail on the earlier matters.

A bail hearing on all 19 charges was held last August in provincial court, with Judge Gregory Lenehan deciding to release Al-Dulaimi on a new order with fewer conditions.

A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge added conditions to the bail order in October with the consent of the defence and the Crown.