Testimony finishes in Hockey Canada trial as defence rests case
Defence teams have finished calling evidence in the trial of five members of Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a downtown London hotel room seven years ago.
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London police Det. Lyndsay Ryan, who was assigned to review the high-profile case after police initially closed it without laying charges, was the final witness to take the stand.
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Ryan testified Monday she was asked to review the sexual assault allegations by the complainant, whose identity is protected by a court order, about what happened inside room 209 of the Delta Armouries hotel on June 19, 2018.
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Ryan said she contacted the woman in July 2022 to inform her the case would be reviewed.
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'She was actually quite upset. I felt really bad because I got the sense that it was opening up some wounds that she was trying to close,' Ryan told the court. 'I think it was a bit overwhelming. She wasn't expecting this.'
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London police began an investigation within days of the woman's hotel room encounter with the players in June 2018 but informed her in February 2019 there weren't sufficient grounds to lay charges and the investigation was closed.
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After reports surfaced the woman settled a lawsuit with Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League and eight unnamed players, London police restarted the investigation in 2022 and pressed charges in 2023.
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Carter Hart, 26, Michael McLeod, 27, Alex Formenton, 25, Dillon Dube, 26, and Cal Foote, 26, were charged with sexual assault. McLeod also was charged with being a party to a sexual assault.
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The accused, all members of the Canadian world junior championship team who were in London for a gala and golf tournament to celebrate their gold medal win, pleaded not guilty.
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The woman, now 27, testified she met McLeod at Jack's bar on Richmond Row while out with co-workers and the two returned to his hotel room at the Delta, where they had consensual sex. Then the woman said up to 10 of McLeod's teammates entered the room and she was forced into unwanted sexual activities with some players.
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The five accused have countered that the woman was the sexual aggressor who wanted McLeod to invite his teammates in for 'a wild night.' They claim she taunted and begged the players for sex, and consented to all sexual activity.
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