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

B.C.'s first health centre catering to francophone community to open in the fall

A new health centre dedicated to serving British Columbia's French-language speakers will open its doors this fall in Vancouver. A statement from B.C.’s Ministry of Health says the current Vancouver Urban Health Centre cannot accommodate the needs of the Lower Mainland’s growing French-speaking community even though it offers primary care in both French and English.

B.C.'s first health centre catering to francophone community to open in the fall

Calgary mayor: no more breaks found in remaining 300 metres of failed water main

Five additional areas requiring further repair along the feeder main were detected late last week, but Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek told an update Sunday that a robotic inspection of 300 metres more of the pipe found no further breaches.

Calgary mayor: no more breaks found in remaining 300 metres of failed water main

Alleged robbery involving 8 masked men

Mounties in Richmond are looking for witnesses to an alleged robbery in which the victim reported being attacked and robbed by as many as eight masked people. Police say the man was leaving a plaza in the area of Number 3 Road and Williams Road, where he says he was hit in the head with a weapon and his backpack was stolen.

Alleged robbery involving 8 masked men

B.C. establishes largest provincial park in a decade to protect threatened caribou

A major provincial park expansion will create a protection zone of almost 2,000 square kilometres for caribou and other species in northeastern British Columbia. The Ministry of Environment says in a statement that the addition to the Klinse-za Park will make it the largest provincial park established in the province in a decade.

B.C. establishes largest provincial park in a decade to protect threatened caribou

Dangerous driver arrested in Coquitlam

RCMP are crediting their Air Services team with helping in the arrest of a dangerous driver in Coquitlam. The Mounties say a motorcyclist was seen speeding and weaving in and out of traffic along Coast Meridian Road near David Avenue on May 31st.

Dangerous driver arrested in Coquitlam

3 arrested in drug seizure

Mounties in Prince George say they arrested three people after executing a search warrant at a home in the city. They say officers found about 50 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 60 grams of suspected fentanyl, four replica firearms, ammunition, two-thousand dollars in cash and other drug trafficking paraphernalia at the home on Nicholson Street.