National

Defence lawyers continue submissions at hockey players' sex assault trial

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 10 Jun, 2025 11:30 AM

Defence lawyers for five former members of Canada's world junior hockey team are continuing to hammer at the credibility of the complainant as they make final submissions at the players' sexual assault trial.

A lawyer representing Alex Formenton is arguing that video evidence from the bar where the woman first encountered several of the players contradicts her testimony that she was plied with alcohol and separated from her friends, and that she was extremely intoxicated.

Daniel Brown has repeatedly argued the woman lied or embellished in her testimony, and that her account of what happened evolved over time.

Court heard submissions Monday from lawyers representing Michael McLeod and Carter Hart.

McLeod's lawyer, David Humphrey, argued the complainant has presented an "entirely unbelievable and unreliable" version of the events at the heart of the trial.

McLeod, Hart, Formenton and their former teammates Dillon Dube and Callan Foote have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault.

McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

The charges relate to an encounter with a woman in a London, Ont., hotel room in June 2018, at a time when many of the team's members were in town for events celebrating their championship win.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

String of robberies in Surrey

Police in Surrey say they're investigating a series of residential robberies believed to be linked to similar break-and-enter incidents in other areas of the Lower Mainland. Surrey RCMP say the suspects work in a team of three, targeting large, single-family homes that are unoccupied at the time, often between 5 and 9 p-m.

String of robberies in Surrey

B.C. port employers issue lockout notice in labour dispute with foremen union

Ports in British Columbia are waking up to the possibility of another provincewide labour disruption as employers say they will lock out members of the union representing more than 700 foremen after it served a strike notice. The BC Maritime Employers Association says in a statement that it has issued a formal notice that it will "defensively" lock out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 starting Monday at 8 a.m.

B.C. port employers issue lockout notice in labour dispute with foremen union

Man flees to India in AP Dhillon shooting

Mounties on Vancouver Island say a man has been arrested in Ontario and another is believed to have fled to India after shots were fired at a home in Greater Victoria last month. Property records show the home is owned by Punjabi music star A-P Dhillon, who posted on Instagram after the shooting that he was safe.

Man flees to India in AP Dhillon shooting

Vancouver confirms CRAB Park temporary sheltering area will close next week

The City of Vancouver says the remaining seven residents of an encampment at a Downtown Eastside park have a week to pack up their belongings and leave, or they must remove their tents each day as the area returns to regular daytime use. A statement from the city says people may continue sheltering at CRAB Park overnight, but structures must be taken down by 8 a.m. each day starting Nov. 7.

Vancouver confirms CRAB Park temporary sheltering area will close next week

Suspicious activity with van

Police in Metro Vancouver say they're investigating two reports of suspicious interactions involving a man driving a white van approaching young girls. New Westminster police say they received the second report after issuing a public statement about the first interaction involving two 12-year-old girls on October 26th.

Suspicious activity with van

Pedestrian dies in vehicle crash

Ridge Meadows Mounties say a female pedestrian died last week after being struck by a vehicle in one of three crashes involving cyclists or pedestrians in the area in the last seven days. Police say the fatal crash happened on Lougheed Highway on October 25th, when the 49-year-old victim from Pitt Meadows died at the scene despite live-saving efforts from emergency workers.