Friday, February 6, 2026
ADVT 
National

'It was all consensual,' woman says in video shown at hockey players' trial

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Apr, 2025 11:19 AM
  • 'It was all consensual,' woman says in video shown at hockey players' trial

Holding a white towel against her body, a young woman smiles and looks into the camera.

"It was all consensual," she says before asking if she's being filmed.

"You are so paranoid ... I enjoyed it," she adds. "I am so sober that’s why I can’t do this right now.”

The short video, taken at the Delta hotel in London, Ont., at 4:26 a.m. on June 19, 2018, was one of a series of clips shownin quick succession Wednesday at the trial of Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote.

The five accused, who were on Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, have all 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.

In another video, taken about an hour earlier, someone asks the woman twice if she is "OK with this." Both times, she agrees.

Prosecutors had referred to the videos, which they said were taken by McLeod, in their opening submissions to the jury on Monday. 

At the time, prosecutor Heather Donkers urged jurors to listen carefully to the complainant's testimony later in the trialregarding "what was happening before and during the recording of these videos." 

Donkers added the Crown plans to argue the videos are not evidence that the complainant did, in fact, consent.

Jurors were also shown Wednesday a screenshot of a group chat between members of the world junior team around 2:10 a.m. that day. In it, McLeod asks if anyone wants to be in a "three-way," then follows up with his hotel room number and Hart replies, "I'm in."

Prosecutors allege the complainant went with McLeod to his hotel room after they met at a downtown bar earlier in the night. Several members of the team were there after attending a Hockey Canada gala, court has heard.

At the hotel, McLeod and the complainant had sex — an encounter that is not part of the trial, court heard. 

Afterward, McLeod invited others into the room, with as many as 10 present at some point, the Crown alleges. In the hours that followed, a number of sexual acts took place without the woman's voluntary consent, the prosecution alleges.

CAUTION: The following paragraphs contain graphic content some readers may find disturbing.

The Crown alleges McLeod, Hart and Dube obtained oral sex from the complainant without her consent at some point during the night, and that Dube slapped the complainant's buttocks without her consent while she was engaged in a sexual act with someone else.

Formenton is alleged to have had vaginal sex with the complainant in the bathroom without her consent. Foote allegedly did the splits over the complainant's face while she lay on the ground, grazing his genitals over her face, without her consent.

The Crown alleges McLeod vaginally penetrated the complainant again at the end of the night, without her consent. It's also alleged he assisted and encouraged his teammates to engage in sexual acts with the complainant knowing she had not consented.

Also on Wednesday, court watched security video from the lobby of the hotel and from the bar where some of the playersand the complainant were earlier that evening.

The complainant, who was 20 at the time, cannot be identified under a standard publication ban.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. signs $670-million pharmacare agreement with federal government

B.C. signs $670-million pharmacare agreement with federal government
The British Columbia and federal governments have signed a four-year, $670-million pharmacare agreement, giving universal access to contraceptive and diabetes medications. The plan will support nearly 550,000 B.C. residents with diabetes and provide 1.3 million people with a range of contraceptives.

B.C. signs $670-million pharmacare agreement with federal government

Another earthquake felt on B.C.'s south coast, third in two weeks

Another earthquake felt on B.C.'s south coast, third in two weeks
Another earthquake has shaken Victoria, becoming at least the third felt in British Columbia's capital in less than two weeks. Earthquakes Canada says the magnitude 3.9 earthquake occurred about 58 kilometres south of Victoria, at 4:18 p.m. on Wednesday.

Another earthquake felt on B.C.'s south coast, third in two weeks

Eby says B.C. making contingency plans to reduce reliance on U.S. electricity

Eby says B.C. making contingency plans to reduce reliance on U.S. electricity
British Columbia Premier David Eby says the government is making contingency plans to reduce the province's reliance on electricity from the United States after the start of the continental trade war. The premier said B.C. had been forced into contingency planning after Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to cut off electricity it provides three border states, resulting in concerns the U.S. could respond in kind.

Eby says B.C. making contingency plans to reduce reliance on U.S. electricity

Three-year-old child dies in pedestrian accident in Chilliwack

Three-year-old child dies in pedestrian accident in Chilliwack
RCMP in Chilliwack say a three-year-old child has died in a "tragic motor vehicle collision." Police say the child was a pedestrian at the intersection of Vedder and Petewawa roads when he or she was hit on Wednesday. 

Three-year-old child dies in pedestrian accident in Chilliwack

Vancouver police say officer slashed while on patrol, man faces multiple charges

Vancouver police say officer slashed while on patrol, man faces multiple charges
Police in Vancouver say an officer on patrol was slashed on the leg with an "edged weapon" in the city's Downtown Eastside. A statement from the Vancouver Police Department says the officer was on foot patrol with his partner near East Hastings and Main streets just after 7 p.m. on Tuesday when he was approached from behind by a suspect and injured.

Vancouver police say officer slashed while on patrol, man faces multiple charges

Joly told Liberals she briefed Carney on Trump tariffs

Joly told Liberals she briefed Carney on Trump tariffs
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly's office confirms she has briefed Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney on President Donald Trump’s tariffs days ahead of Sunday's leadership vote this week. Carney is the presumed front-runner for the party's leadership and could become prime minister as early as next week — which would make Trump's growing trade war with Canada his problem to sort out.

Joly told Liberals she briefed Carney on Trump tariffs