
Complainant in hockey players’ sex assault trial is not credible, defence argues
LONDON — A woman accusing five hockey players of sexual assault made up a false narrative because she didn’t want to take responsibility for her decisions, a defence lawyer for one of the players argued as final submissions in the case began Monday.
David Humphrey, who represents Michael McLeod, argued the complainant presented an “entirely unbelievable and unreliable” version of what transpired the night of June 18 into the early hours of June 19, 2018, including that she engaged in sexual acts in a London, Ont., hotel room because she was afraid.
He argued the woman may not have been willing to acknowledge to others or even herself that she had been “sexually adventurous in a hotel room” with several men she had just met, and created a narrative “in which she bears no responsibility” for her participation.
She was upset that she had cheated on her boyfriend and felt McLeod and Alex Formenton, another accused player who was his roommate at the hotel, had been rude to her as she left, Humphrey said.