C6

Tammy Scott-Wallace
Telegraph-Journal

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HAMPTON - A sexual assault trial will conclude this afternoon in Hampton provincial court when the accused takes the stand in his own defence.

The 24-year-old Saint John man is accused of forcing a 20-year-old woman to have sex with him. The woman, who lived in Rothesay at the time of the alleged assault in the summer of 2008, testified Tuesday that she was intoxicated when Mark Hanlon entered her bedroom, pinned her arms above her head and began to have intercourse.

During the trial she said she repeatedly told Hanlon "no" and when she struck him in the face after being overcome with nausea, he stopped the assault.

As part of the Crown's case, prosecutor Kelly Winchester played a DVD of Hanlon's statement to the police given nearly six months after the alleged assault occurred on Aug. 24, 2008. The victim did not report the alleged crime to the police until December of 2008.

In his video-taped statement, Hanlon began by saying he did not know the complainant in this case.

"I never raped her," Hanlon insisted.

Less than halfway through the one-hour statement, he told MacDougall he made a mistake that night by entering her room and getting into her bed.

Hanlon is defence lawyer Brian Ferguson's sole witness.

He'll take the stand today when the trial resumes at 3 p.m.