A puzzling bashing case in London, Ontario, has ended with the judge issuing a conditional discharge to the accused after tearing a strip off the alleged victim.
In September 2009 Brandon Wright told Xtra he was threatened and beaten by an unidentified man who had approached him looking for modelling work. Wright, who suffered a nasty injury to his face, said he jumped from the man’s pickup truck to escape the attack. The accused, Alex Myros, a former semi-professional football player, was arrested days later at the London International Airport.
Myros told the court Wright had tricked him into performing a sex act by telling him he could earn thousands as a model and pornstar.
Superior Court Justice John Desotti said on April 28 that he disbelieved virtually all of Wright’s testimony, describing him as a con man who “preyed upon” the “vulnerable” Myros. “This is not an attack on an individual because of his sexuality,” he added. Wright’s sexual orientation was “irrelevant to the attack.”
Desotti then described Myros as a decent, sincere and refreshingly honest witness with a promising future and a strong character.
Myros pleaded guilty to common assault. The Crown had asked for jail time, but the judge handed Myros a conditional discharge and 12 months’ probation.
He also stated that Wright had likely perpetrated crimes against Myros that could be explored by authorities in the future. The crown suggested that was unlikely and the matter seems closed.