Five Canadian ice hockey players accused of sexually assaulting a woman were all acquitted by an Ontario judge on Thursday.
In a packed courtroom, Justice Maria Carroccia reviewed testimony and evidence from the highly publicised eight-week trial over the course of several hours before declaring the men not guilty.
The former players for Canada's world junior hockey team were accused of assaulting the woman, known as EM, in a hotel room in 2018 in London, Ontario, where they had attended a Hockey Canada gala.
Justice Carroccia said she did not find EM's evidence "credible or reliable". She added that "the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me".
The central issue of the trial was whether EM, who was 20 at the time, had consented to every sexual act in the room that night.
