Sexual assault charge against taxi driver dismissed in Yukon Supreme Court

A sexual assault charge against 26-year-old Jaspal Singh Tamber was dismissed in Yukon Supreme Court Tuesday morning before his trialeven began.

Prosecutor Keith Parkkari told the judge he would not be presenting any evidence.

Tamber, a taxi driver at the time,was charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping in October2017, after two separate incidents involving two separate complainants in his cab on the same night.

One count of sexual assault was resolved last year with Tamber signing a peace bond to stay away from the complainant in that incident. The kidnapping charge was also dropped last year.

He has always maintained his innocence and was always prepared to fight this very vigorously.- RishiGill, defence lawyer

Tamber's trial on the other count of sexual assault was to begin Tuesday morning with evidence from the complainant in that incident.

Parkkari, however, told the judge he had received a message from the complainant that she wished "to take care of herself and not come to court."

He said he did not have enough evidence to convict Tamber, and would not attempt to pursue the witness.

Justice James Williams then dismissed the case.

Outside the courtroom, defence lawyer Rishi Gill said Tamber will now get on with his life.

"He has always maintained his innocence and was always prepared to fight this very vigorously," said Gill.

"This, we believe, was the right result. We're very sorry it had to get to this point but we appreciate the process," he said.

Gill said it was an unfortunate set of events for a lot of people, but there's no point in being bitter.

Tamber'spermit to drive a taxi was suspended by the city in 2017 shortly after he was charged.

An emailedstatement from a city spokesperson says if Tamberwere to apply for a permit now, he would be subject to a background check. That would include the circumstances of the peace bond he signed to resolve oneof the sexual assault charges.