The defence team representing former RNC officer Douglas Snelgrove says there was no way to avoid a mistrial declared in the court case yesterday.

The latest news has women’s groups and others outraged after Snelgrove was acquitted on charges of sexually assaulting a woman while on duty three and a half years ago.

Snelgrove’s lawyers say they did not ask for a mistrial so much as they acknowledged to the court that an error meant the jury was improperly constituted. A mistrial, according to Snelgrove’s defence, was “the only available remedy.”

Advocates are calling it yet another example of how the justice system does not serve survivors of sexual assault.

The executive director of the St. John’s Status of Women’s Council says they are “dumbfounded” by the outcome. Laura Winters says they are in equal parts “outraged” and “disturbed” by what happened.

She believes it will impact whether or not survivors of sexual abuse choose to come forward.

She says you don’t have to wonder why women who experience sexual violence don’t come forward.