By The Canadian Press

Complainant begins testimony at hockey players’ sexual-assault trial

May 2, 2025 | 10:04 AM

LONDON — A woman prosecutors allege was sexually assaulted by five hockey players described Friday feeling increasingly drunk, off balance and out of touch with her surroundings at the bar where she first encountered some of the accused.

The woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, began laying out her account of what led her to accompany Michael McLeod to the hotel where he and his teammates were staying.

McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote were all part of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, and were in London, Ont., along with many other members of the team in June 2018 for a series of events marking their victory at that year’s championship.

All have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, and McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

The woman, now 27, told the court she’d had two coolers at home before meeting her co-workers at Jack’s bar the night of June 18. Over the course of the night, she said, she had at least eight shots – two of them immediately after arriving – as well as a beer and a vodka soda.

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Testifying from another room by CCTV, the woman said she didn’t know her co-workers well and was drinking in part to feel more comfortable around them.

At one point, she was approached by a man who introduced her to someone named Mikey and urged her to “take care of him,” she said. She later learned Mikey was McLeod, she said.

She recalled drinking and dancing with McLeod and his friends, and figuring out that they played hockey together, though she didn’t know at what level. Aside from her two initial shots, the group bought most of her drinks, she said.

The group encircled her on the crowded and “chaotic” dance floor, touching and pressing against her, she said. At times, they moved her hands to touch their “crotch area,” she said.

She felt uncomfortable and claustrophobic, but “awkwardly” went along with it because she was drunk, she said. “I was feeling kind of sandwiched in,” she said.

The woman was shown security footage of the dance floor where someone she identified as of the men seemed to pull her ponytail, and another clip where someone she said was in the group picked her up, neither of which she remembered happening.

When shown a clip where she and McLeod appeared to kiss at the bar, the woman said she felt “fine” about it at the time. “I was attracted to him,” and he seemed interested in her, she said.

Another video appeared to show them kissing on the dancefloor.

“By that point, I definitely feel like I was off balance, like it was taking a lot of effort to kind of move around and stay upright. I definitely had blurry vision at that point, too,” the woman said.

Her judgment was starting to be impaired because of the alcohol, and she was “not really aware of what was going on,” she said.

Throughout the night, McLeod made comments indicating he wanted to take her home that night and it became apparent that that’s where things were headed, she said.

There were moments where she felt a lot of pressure to stay with McLeod, and at one point, she went to the bathroom thinking she could “sneak away and not have to tell him no or not have to really confront him,” she testified.

However, “he insisted on staying close,” walking her right to the bathroom, she said.

The woman said she generally has a hard time saying no, and “when I’m drunk I think that kind of really shows,” she said.

She said she felt OK about leaving with McLeod to go to his hotel, but that she probably wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t been drunk.

Prosecutors have alleged the woman and McLeod had sex in his hotel room, an encounter that is not part of the trial. After that, they allege McLeod invited several others into the hotel room.

They allege the woman went along with what the men wanted her to do that night because she didn’t feel she had a choice.

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

In her opening remarks to the jury, prosecutor Heather Donkers alleged that each of the five accused engaged in sexual acts with the woman without her voluntary consent, and that McLeod encouraged his teammates to do so knowing the woman had not consented.

McLeod, Hart and Dube are accused of obtaining oral sex from the woman without her consent, and Dube is also accused of slapping her buttocks while she was engaged in a sexual act with someone else.

Formenton is alleged to have had vaginal sex with the complainant without her consent inside the bathroom. Foote is alleged to have done the splits over her face and grazed his genitals on it without her consent.

The Crown alleges McLeod also vaginally penetrated her without her consent at the end of the night.

Earlier Friday, court also heard from two other former members of the team, who recalled seeing a woman in bed under the covers when they briefly stopped by McLeod’s hotel room in the early hours of June 19.

Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk, who now play for the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League respectively, each testified by videoconference.

Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia told jurors Friday that witnesses may testify in a variety of ways, including videoconference and CCTV, and that they should not take anything from that.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2025.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press