Closing Arguments Wrap Up In North Abaco MP’s Rape Trial

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A lawyer for North Abaco MP Kirk Cornish urged jurors to acquit him of charges of rape, assault and threats of death as she described his accuser as a “woman scorned.”

Tai Pinder-Mackey called the woman’s accusations a “storybook filled with lies”, while highlighting that the woman had been untruthful when she claimed she was a general practitioner.

Cornish’s accuser has a medical degree but she isn’t licensed to practice in any jurisdiction.

Pinder-Mackey said that the woman failed to tell police that Cornish spat in her face after he allegedly raped her at an Airbnb in New Providence on March 24, 2023.

She said that it was unlikely that she would forget such a degrading act.

She also questioned why the woman traveled with Cornish back to Abaco after the incident, and “put herself in a position to be raped again.”

On the other hand, Timothy Bailey told jurors that there was cogent evidence to support convictions.

He said Cornish’s former girlfriend was “dangerously in love” and she finally stood up after being “bullied, battered and raped.”

Cornish is accused of poking the woman in the eye and choking her and threatening to put a bullet in her head on January 20, 2023. He allegedly raped the woman on March 24, 2023 and spat in her face.

He’s accused of raping the woman again on April 4, 2023 at her home.

Cornish is expected to learn his fate when Justice Renae McKay turns the case over to the jury tomorrow.