The Crown has dropped a criminal charge against an Ottawa soldier accused of assaulting a Russian diplomat last March.
Pte. Kevin Martin had been charged with aggravated assault.
The diplomat left the country almost immediately after the incident and has not returned, and the Russian embassy has refused to comment on the case.
Martin’s lawyer Michael Davies told the Citizen on Thursday that because the diplomat had left the country, there had apparently been no reasonable prospect of a conviction.
Martin, he said, wants to resume his career and “get back to being a regular person.”
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Police found the 44-year-old diplomat in the lobby of the Stewart Street highrise where both men had apartments.
The diplomat, identified in court documents as Andrey Gorobets, appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and initially told paramedics his injuries were dog bites.
He refused medical treatment.
Police followed the trail of blood to an apartment where, sources have told the Citizen, they found Martin bloodied and a knife on the floor nearby.
The identities and jobs of the soldier and the diplomat initially sparked fears of a national security breach, but that theory was quickly dismissed.
Martin had apparently met Gorobets for the first time the day of the incident and had been invited to the Russian’s apartment.
