London Hockey Trial - Timeline of developments
Published
In a courtroom in London, Ont., five former members of Canada’s 2018 World Juniors team - Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, and Dillon Dube - are going on trial, 15 months after they were charged with sexual assault.
A running timeline of the developments and stories thus far (Content advisory: Some articles include graphic details of alleged sexual assault):
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Ahead of jury selection, TSN Senior Correspondent Rick Westhead provides a courtroom primer, with facts about Canada’s legal system, the key characters to watch during the trial, and how the case may unfold. Full Feature
A jury of 11 women and three men will hear evidence over the next two months in the case of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team who are charged with sexual assault. The jury was decided as the first day of the case came to a close a day that saw all five defendants in court together for the first time. Full Story
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
In the government’s opening statement in the trial of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, assistant Crown attorney Heather Donkers told the jury on Wednesday that the case against the five players, "is about consent. And equally important, it is about what is not consent." Full Story
Thursday, April 24, 2025
The jury did not sit Thursday in the London, Ont., trial of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team as the court continues to deal with a procedural issue that is covered by a publication ban. Story
Friday, April 25, 2025
Justice Maria Carroccia declared a mistrial in the trial of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team. Full story
A new 14-person jury made up of nine women and five men has been selected in the sexual assault trial of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, after Justice Maria Carroccia declared a mistrial and dismissed the initial jury on the trial’s fourth day. Full story
Monday, April 28, 2025
In the government’s opening statement in the trial of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, assistant Crown attorney Heather Donkers told the jury of nine women and five men in Ontario Superior Court in London, Ont., on Monday that the case against McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, and Carter Hart, “is about consent. And equally important, it is about what is not consent.”
The jury then watched a series of surveillance videos that show E.M., the complainant in the case, arriving at a London bar around 11 p.m. on June 18, 2018, moving between an ATM, a bar where she appears to order drinks, and then a crowded dance floor - part of the first testimony. Full Story
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
The second day of the sexual assault trial of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team began with the jury watching surveillance video of E.M., the complainant in the case, talking and dancing at a London bar with Michael McLeod and several other Team Canada players who have not been charged in the case. Full Story
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
The third day of the sexual assault trial of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team began with the jury being shown a number of surveillance videos, videos and group chat texts obtained from player cell phones, and photos taken by police officers investigating the incident. Full Story
Taylor Raddysh, a forward on Canada’s 2018 world junior team who currently plays for the Washington Capitals, testified remotely Wednesday afternoon in the sexual assault trial of five members of the team. Full Story
Thursday, May 1, 2025
The trial did not hear testimony because one of the jurors was ill, Justice Maria Carroccia told the court. Story
Friday, May 2, 2025
Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh gave testimony on Friday in the sexual assault trial of five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team. Full Story
E.M., the now 27-year-old woman who has accused five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team of sexual assault, began testifying, speaking in court for the first time. Full Story
Monday, May 5, 2025
E.M. told a jury that after she had consensual sex with Michael McLeod early in the morning of June 19, 2018, she was sexually assaulted and felt she had to go along with what McLeod and some of his teammates wanted her to do in order to get out of the crowded hotel room safely. Story
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
During cross-examination, Michael McLeod’s lawyer, David Humphrey, challenged E.M.’s version of events on June 18, 2018, the night of the alleged sexual assault. Story
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
A defence lawyer representing Carter Hart suggested Wednesday that the complainant in the London hockey trial made up a story about being sexually assaulted so that her boyfriend would not end their relationship. Full Story
Thursday, May 8, 2025
A lawyer representing Carter Hart suggested to the complainant in the sexual assault trial that she was not truthful with the jury when she testified earlier this week that players in Michael McLeod’s hotel room told one another not to let her leave during the alleged incident because she was crying, and physically guided her back into the room. Story
Friday, May 9, 2025
Alex Formenton's lawyer suggested that the complainant's accounts to London police and Hockey Canada of what happened at a downtown London bar the night of the alleged sexual assaults contained a number of inaccuracies. Story
Monday, May 12, 2025
During cross-examination on her seventh day of testifying, E.M. was questioned by Dillon Dube’s lawyer, Lisa Carnelos, about the events of June 18 and 19, 2018. Story
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
A lawyer representing Callan Foote suggested Tuesday that the complainant in the London hockey trial has had an agenda by referring to the defendants throughout the trial as “men” rather than “boys.” Story
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
E.M. testified that when she filed a personal injury lawsuit in 2022 against Hockey Canada and eight unnamed players, her understanding was that the players would not be publicly identified. Story
Tyler Steenbergen, a former member of Canada’s 2018 world junior team, testified that he watched as Carter Hart and Michael McLeod received oral sex in a London hotel room in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018, from E.M., the complainant in the sexual assault trial. Story
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Tyler Steenbergen testified that teammates Cal Foote and Dillon Dube both phoned him after learning Hockey Canada was conducting an investigation into an alleged sexual assault and asked him not to reveal what he had seen those players do the night of the alleged incident. Story
Friday, May 16, 2025
Justice Maria Carroccia discharged the jury in the trial. Carroccia thanked the 14 jurors and dismissed them. The trial continues by judge alone. Story
The shift to a judge-only trial means arguments, evidence and other information discussed in the absence of the jury can now be disclosed. Some things the jurors didn’t hear about the case. More
Three of the five hockey players accused spoke about the events of that night with an investigator hired by Hockey Canada, but those statements are not part of their criminal trial. More
Tyler Steenbergen testified that a lawyer hired by Hockey Canada in 2022 to investigate the alleged sexual assault may have mischaracterized what Steenbergen said he saw at the time. Story
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
If the players decide to take the stand, they will not receive the same type of withering scrutiny about some of their past statements on what happened in the London hotel room, even though Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham has argued statements from three of the charged players are riddled with inconsistencies. More
Brett Howden testified to the court he remembered Dillon Dube and Callan Foote both phoning him in June of 2018 and asking him not to tell a Hockey Canada investigator what he had seen them do in a London hotel room in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018. Story
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Justice Maria Carroccia ruled that while there were some inconsistences in the testimony of Brett Howden, he was not feigning a lack of memory or being insincere when he said he couldn’t remember details around an alleged sexual assault. Story
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Vegas Golden Knights forward Brett Howden broke down crying while testifying Thursday about text messages he sent to a former Team Canada teammate in June 2018 when they learned Hockey Canada was investigating an alleged sexual assault that took place a week earlier following a golf and gala event in London, Ont. Story