The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A YOUNG woman cried while testifying about how a bus driver allegedly threatened her with a hammer, dragged her back into a bus and sexually assaulted her outside the Mall at Marathon in 2021.

The 21-year-old victim said on the evening of March 7, 2021, she asked Douglas Edey, 37, to use his phone while a passenger in his number 15 bus. She said she used his phone to call a friend because her phone didn’t have a SIM card.

She said later, Edey allegedly pulled out a hammer and threatened her outside the bus near Kelly’s Home Centre at the Mall at Marathon. She says Edey forced her into the bus and attempted to sexually assault her.

She was overwhelmed with emotion during her testimony. She said as she fought the man, she "felt it" when he put the tip of his penis inside her.

She claimed the accused rubbed her privates, and she saw him put on a condom.

She said she tried to hide in a black car near Wendy’s at the mall after escaping the bus. She said while she tried to flee into the nearby KFC where her mother worked, Edey allegedly grabbed and dragged her back to the bus.

Julian Brown, a bus driver, testified that he saw the alleged victim get pulled into the bus through his rearview mirror.

When he pulled alongside Edey’s bus window to investigate, he heard the alleged victim scream, “please help me, please help me". He said when he confronted Edey, the man told him the woman was his girlfriend.

He said when he noticed the frightened look of the alleged victim, he offered to take her to her mother, but Edey refused.

Mr Brown alleged that he saw a hammer with a brownish handle near the gear shift of the bus.

He said he called the police after Edey left the scene.

He said later that night, he saw the defendant get arrested near Kelly’s Lumber Yard on East Street. He said the young woman still appeared visibly shaken.

Mr Brown said he told officers about the hammer he saw in a subsequent police interview.

Attorney Nathan Smith represents Edey.

During cross-examination, Mr Smith suggested the alleged victim stole his client's phone and $379, but the complainant denied this.

Mr Smith also suggested no hammer was involved and that the two people were dating. The victim denied these suggestions as well.

Justice Guillimina Archer-Minns presides over the trial, which continues later this week.