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Ex-hostage Boyle says he was worried about wife the night she fled their home

Sep 5, 2019 | 11:55 AM

OTTAWA — Former overseas hostage Joshua Boyle says he was concerned for his wife Caitlan Coleman’s mental well-being the winter night she fled their Ottawa apartment in stocking feet, accusing Boyle of assaulting her.

Over two days of testimony in Ontario court, Boyle has denied allegations he told Coleman that no one liked her, clasped his hand over her mouth and struck her in the face with his fist on Dec. 30, 2017.

Coleman has told Boyle’s assault trial that he ranted at her that night, forced her into their bedroom and punched the side of her face.

She testified the evening amounted to the breaking point when she decided to leave her husband.

Boyle, 36, has pleaded not guilty to several offences against Coleman, including assault, sexual assault and unlawful confinement, as well as a charge of misleading Ottawa police in the hours before he was arrested.

The offences are alleged to have taken place from October to December 2017, after the couple returned to Canada following five harrowing years as prisoners of extremists who kidnapped them in Afghanistan during a hiking trip through Asia.

The Canadian Press