World junior defence continue closing submissions at sex assault trial

Defence lawyers for five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team are set to continue their final submissions to the judge presiding over the players’ sexual assault trial Tuesday.

Court heard submissions Monday for lawyers representing Michael McLeod and Carter Hart, and counsel for the remaining three accused will get a turn before prosecutors present their submissions.

McLeod’s lawyer, David Humphrey, argued the complainant has presented an “entirely unbelievable and unreliable” version of the events at the heart of the trial.

McLeod, Hart and their former teammates Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault.

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McLeod also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offense of sexual assault.

The charges relate to an encounter with a woman in a London, Ont., hotel room in June 2018, at a time when many of the team’s members were in town for celebrating events their championship win.