Ex-mayor’s complex love life detailed at sexual assault trial

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Woodstock’s former mayor fidgeted with a facemask in the corner of the London police interview room when an investigator went to the heart of the matter.

“I’m just curious: Why do you think she has come to us about this now?” London police Sgt. Patrick Morrissey said to Trevor Birtch about months-old allegations of assault and sexual violence. “Did something change or happen that would shed some light on this investigation?”

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Birtch said with a sniff and a slight chuckle: “A woman scorned.”

That small snippet of Birtch’s police statement, made on Feb. 2, 2022, was played at his Superior Court trial Wednesday during assistant Crown attorney Artem Orlov’s cross-examination, which put the ex-politician on the hot seat.

Birtch has pleaded not guilty to one count of assault and two counts of sexual assault stemming from incidents in 2021 when he was involved with a 45-year-old woman who claims she was abused on three separate occasions.

Orlov suggested the woman was telling the truth and Birtch wanted to portray the woman as “clingy, irresponsible and irrational” and “to paint her in a really bad light” to bolster his story that he did nothing wrong.

“No, that’s not my intent; that’s my truth,” Birtch said. “I was not being inaccurate.”

While it will be up to Justice Michael Carnegie to assess the evidence, what has emerged during the trial this week is that the ex-mayor, who was trounced at the polls in 2022 after two terms in office, had a complicated love life.

Birtch was separated from his wife of 20 years at the time he entered into the relationship with the woman, who has testified Birtch assaulted her on two occasions when she refused to perform a specific sex act, and once when she did agree but wasn’t able to withdraw her consent during the sex act.

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She told the court her relationship with Birtch from April 2020 to December 2021 was marked by violence and alcohol abuse.

Birtch has testified the woman was violent, possessive and often went into “a fit of rage” over his contact with other women. Often, he said, her obsessive behaviour was fueled by alcohol.

Orlov suggested during cross-examination that 2021 must have been a tough year for Birtch because of his divorce proceedings and his balancing of his mayoral duties with a part-time driving job. Birtch said it was “a good year, except for this situation.”

Orlov said there was an assortment of stressors in Birtch’s life and “you just snapped.”

“I disagree,” Birtch said.

Birtch has described several violent interactions with the woman. He says she punched him in the face, leaving a black eye, and threatened bikers would deal with him if he ended their relationship. At no time did Birtch seek medical assistance or go to the police, the court has heard.

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During the police interview, Morrissey asked specifically if the woman had been his girlfriend. Birtch told the officer the woman was “a friend.”

That was another example, Orlov said, of Birtch trying to downplay the relationship. Birtch said that was incorrect.

“The nature of our relationship was not something that was exclusive,” Birtch said.

Orlov produced friendly text messages Birtch sent to the woman – a holiday greeting on Dec. 25, 2021, and another on Jan. 1, 2022 – that were sent after an alleged break-in into his bedroom weeks earlier.

He agreed he and the woman had one face-to-face meeting, where he delivered gifts. There were also messages that indicated she could “drop over” to his house, but that, Birtch said, was to hand over some of his personal property that remained in her possession.

Birtch said he sent the same greetings to other people and in the case of the woman, he “was hoping (the relationship) would be fine and go away.”

The court also heard Wednesday from Birtch’s 18-year-old son, Ben, who was living with his father in December, 2021, when he had to escort the woman out of their home.

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He said it was a school night. He was asleep in his main floor bedroom when he heard his father yelling, “get out,” from his upstairs bedroom.

The son said he quickly dressed and heard his father say: “Look, what you did. You woke up Ben.”

The son ran up to the bedroom in time to see a TV falling over and the woman hiding behind the TV stand. His father caught the TV and put it on the bed.

The son said he walked over to the woman, guiding her to her feet by her shoulders and told her to “get out.” He escorted her out of a room, but allowed her to return to retrieve her shoes and bag before following her out.

He said he knew the woman as his father’s “friend” but didn’t know they were dating.

Closing arguments from the Crown and the defence are expected Thursday morning.

jsims@postmedia.com

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