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

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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.