British sailor accused of gang rape at Halifax base has sexual assault charge dropped

One of the four British sailors accused of gang raping a young woman at a military base in Halifax last year has had his chargesdropped.

Craig Stoner walked out of Dartmouth provincial court on Friday with his legal fight behind him.He is no longer facing charges ofsexual assault causing bodily harm andsexual assault committed with one or more other persons.

In court, the Crown said after reviewing the evidence, there wasn't a reasonable prospect of conviction against Stoner.

Stoner's lawyer, Luke Craggs,said his client is"pleased that this saga is concluded."

"I think we saw, early on, that this is where things would end for him," he said.

"The reality is, he's been labelled a rapist in the international media and that's a label that he's going to have to work hard to shake off, but now he can put this behind him and get on with the rest of his life."

Simon Radford, Joshua Finbow, and Darren Smalley are each stillfacing a charge sexual assault causing bodily harm and one count of sexual assault committed with one or more other persons.

When they were arrested last April, the men were in Nova Scotia to participate in a hockey tournament with local Armed Forces personnel. The Crown alleges they participated in a group sexual assault April 10, 2015 in a barracks at CFB Shearwater.

The preliminary inquiry for the other three sailors continues.