HALIFAX — Three of four British sailors charged with sexually assaulting a woman in Halifax are expected in court today to challenge the conditions of their bail.
The men want to return to the United Kingdom pending a preliminary inquiry scheduled for five days next April in Halifax provincial court.
Simon Radford, Joshua Finbow, Craig Stoner and Darren Smalley were in Nova Scotia to play in a hockey tournament with local Armed Forces personnel when they were arrested in April.
The Crown alleges the members of the Royal Navy participated in a "group sexual assault" on April 10 inside a barracks at CFB Shearwater, a Halifax military base.
All but Smalley have applied for changes to their bail conditions to allow them to return to the U.K.
The Crown is expected to oppose the application.
The men, who have not yet entered pleas, were permitted earlier this year to transfer from Halifax to CFB Suffield in Alberta where there is a British army training unit.
None of the allegations against the four men has been proven in court.
Court heard in June that Smalley has elected to be tried by a judge and jury in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
Crown attorney Scott Morrison has said if two or more people are charged with the same offence and one elects trial by judge and jury, then the rest must follow suit under the Criminal Code.
