Victoria – The BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) announced that Special Prosecutor Brock Martland KC has directed a stay of proceedings of the single charge of sexual assault against Colin Basran, the sitting mayor of Kelowna at the time of the alleged offence.
On October 13, 2022, Martland was appointed Special Prosecutor in relation to the investigation of a sexual assault alleged to have occurred in Kelowna in May 2022.
According to BCPS, Martland made the decision to direct a stay of proceedings after receiving further information from counsel for the accused and police investigators. After receiving this information, the Special Prosecutor conducted a careful review of all the materials and information available and concluded that the charge assessment standard for proceeding with criminal charges could no longer be met.
The assessment standard is a two-part test according to the BC Prosecution Service, whether there is a substantial likelihood of conviction and, if so, whether the public interest requires a prosecution.
Basran had been charged after a lengthy investigation into allegations of sexual assault on May 11 of last year while he was still Kelowna’s sitting mayor.
Charges were laid on December 7.
