Pregnant woman says allegations of abuse were to teach boyfriend a lesson

A pregnant young woman who accused her boyfriend of abuse told a court Tuesday that she later tried to get the charges withdrawn because she made up the allegations to "teach him a lesson."

Noellee Mowatt was jailed in Toronto earlier this month to ensure her testimony against her boyfriend Christopher Harbin.

Mowatt, 20, said she called police after an argument with Harbin on Dec. 28, 2007, because she was mad at him - not because he had been abusing her.

Mowatt told Judge Beverly Brown she called police and the Crown's office "numerous times" to have the charges against Harbin withdrawn in the weeks after the alleged assault, but that she received no response.

The young woman also said Toronto police forced her to make a videotaped statement that Harbin assaulted her.

Mowatt said Det.-Const. Mandy Morris threatened to "lock her up" if she didn't corroborate statements made during a 911 call earlier that day.

Court heard Tuesday that Mowatt was angry at Harbin because he had kicked her out of their apartment and because he was unemployed and spent hours each day viewing online porn.

Mowatt, who came to Canada from Jamaica in 2006, also denied that Harbin and his mother pressured her to retract her statements to police about the alleged abuse.

When Harbin's defence lawyer Maurice Mirosolin asked Mowatt to explain a photo showing red marks on the right side of her face near her jaw line, she said, "It's not a bruise, it's a hickey."

Mowatt also told the court that bruises on her cheek were self-inflicted, and that she had punched herself in the bathroom of a Starbucks located across the street from the west Toronto apartment the couple shared.

Other injuries, such as a cut on her toe and red marks on her elbows, were caused by chasing Harbin, she said.

"When I was chasing after Chris, I fell and rubbed some skin off," Mowatt said.

James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4