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The highly anticipated sexual assault trial of five former Canadian junior hockey players has been moved up to next spring.
Eight weeks have been set aside for the London jury trial beginning April 22 for Dillon Dube, 26, formerly of the NHL’s Calgary Flames, ex-Philadelphia Flyer Carter Hart, 26, ex-New Jersey Devils Michael McLeod, 26, and Cal Foote, 25, and former London Knight Alex Formenton, 24, who had been playing in Switzerland.
The trial had been set this year to begin Sept. 8, 2025, but the door was left open to move the case up to April if all pre-trial motions had been dealt with. The new trial dates were confirmed this week by acting regional senior justice Bruce Thomas, who is the presiding judge.
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Three weeks of pre-trial motions are set to begin Nov. 25. Information at those hearings is covered by a court-ordered publication ban.
All five men are charged with sexual assault following a 2018 Hockey Canada fundraising gala in London to celebrate the team’s gold medal win. McLeod faces an additional charge of sexual assault “being party to an offence.”
The charges stem from allegations that a woman was sexually assaulted by several men in a London hotel room. She had met them at a Richmond Row bar and became separated from her friends. She said she went to a hotel room with one of the men for consensual sex and other men were invited into room.
No charges were laid after the initial London police investigation that was closed in 2019. The woman launched a $3.5-million lawsuit that was settled by Hockey Canada.
The settlement sparked public outrage and led to London police reopening the case and laying charges.
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