Lawyers for former Canada World Junior hockey players facing sex assault charges make brief court appearance, case back in court in June

The lawyers for five former Canadian World Juniors hockey players charged with sexual assault appeared via Zoom in a London, Ont. courtroom Tuesday morning.

Justice Alissa Mitchell dealt with the matter briefly in assignment court and put the matter over until June 11 when it’s expected they will confirm pre-trial application dates as well as a possible trial date, which could proceed sometime next spring.

It’s also expected that judicial pre-trial applications will be heard on Sept. 5 and 6 in person at the courthouse in London.

Normally there is a ban on publication during pre-trial proceedings which are generally held before a trial.

Earlier this year, Michael McLeod, Dillion Dube, Cal Foote, Carter Hart and Alex Formenton were all charged in connection with an alleged sexual assault of a woman at a downtown London hotel in June of 2018.

The players were in London at the time for a Hockey Canada gala and golf tournament following their gold medal win at the World Juniors.

The lawyers for all five players have publicly declared their innocence.