Sunday, February 22, 2026
ADVT 
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 continue submissions at hockey players' sex assault trial

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

MORE National ARTICLES

Account tweaks for young Instagram users 'minimum' expected by B.C., David Eby says

Account tweaks for young Instagram users 'minimum' expected by B.C., David Eby says
Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the "minimum" expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online. The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Account tweaks for young Instagram users 'minimum' expected by B.C., David Eby says

Targeted stabbing in Langley

Targeted stabbing in Langley
R-C-M-P in Langley are investigating a stabbing that sent a 26-year-old man to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Mounties say officers responded to a stabbing report in the 203-hundred block of Douglas Crescent just after 8:15 a-m this morning.

Targeted stabbing in Langley

Activist sues India in U.S. court over alleged plot that killed B.C. Sikh leader

Activist sues India in U.S. court over alleged plot that killed B.C. Sikh leader
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, with the group Sikhs for Justice, says the civil lawsuit in the U.S. district court for southern New York is aimed at holding the Indian government accountable for alleged involvement in the shooting death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey last year and a plot on Pannun soon after. The allegations have not been proven in court, and the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., has not responded to a request for comment.

Activist sues India in U.S. court over alleged plot that killed B.C. Sikh leader

Calgary man sentenced to six years in prison for sharing terrorism videos on TikTok

Calgary man sentenced to six years in prison for sharing terrorism videos on TikTok
A Calgary man who admitted to sharing Islamic State recruitment videos and propaganda on TikTok has been sentenced to six years in prison. Zakarya Rida Hussein, 20, was sentenced in court Friday after he earlier pleaded guilty to one of four terrorism-related charges.

Calgary man sentenced to six years in prison for sharing terrorism videos on TikTok

Surrey ER doctors call for 'new leadership' amid 'toxic' work environment

Surrey ER doctors call for 'new leadership' amid 'toxic' work environment
A letter sent to the president of Fraser Health Authority Dr. Victoria Lee, and published online, warns that deteriorating conditions in the department are "unequivocally leading to substandard care" and creating an "increasingly toxic work environment."

Surrey ER doctors call for 'new leadership' amid 'toxic' work environment

Report charts path for Canada to show importance to United States

Report charts path for Canada to show importance to United States
While Canada cannot escape the gravitational pull of an increasingly unstable United States, a new report is charting a path forward to ensure Canadian interests become more important to our closest neighbour. The report, which will be released publicly Wednesday, suggests Canada should deepen co-operation with America in key sectors now.

Report charts path for Canada to show importance to United States