Content advisory: This article includes allegations of sexual assault

London, Ont. - E.M., the now 27-year-old woman who has accused five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team of sexual assault, began testifying Friday afternoon, speaking in court for the first time about a criminal case that has sent shock waves through Canadian sport.

E.M. addressed the 14-person jury in London’s downtown courthouse by closed-circuit TV. At about 2:10 p.m. ET, she walked into the frame and sat behind a desk that had a bottle of water and a box of tissues on it.

Over the next two-and-a-half hours, E.M., whose identity is protected by a publication ban, testified about how she met Michael McLeod and other members of the 2018 team at a downtown London bar on June 18, 2018.

McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, and Callan Foote have been accused of sexually assaulting E.M. in London’s Delta Armouries hotel. McLeod faces a second sexual assault charge of being party to the offence. The players have all pleaded not guilty.

E.M. began her testimony by explaining that in the summer of 2018, she had started working at a new job and had made a plan to go out and dance with some of her co-workers.

She testified that she had two cans of Mike’s Hard Lemonade while getting ready at home and then took an Uber to Jack’s bar in downtown London, picking up a co-worker on the way.

Over the following several........

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