The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced that no criminal charges will be brought against Canadian ice hockey player Matt Petgrave in relation to the death of American player Adam Johnson during a British Elite League match in October 2023.
Petgrave had been arrested in November 2023 on suspicion of manslaughter after his skate blade struck Johnson’s neck during open play in a game between Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers. Johnson was taken to hospital but later died. Thousands of fans had been watching the match at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena.
Petgrave was released and bailed seven times over the following 17 months while South Yorkshire Police continued their investigation. He had denied the allegations and called the incident a “tragic accident”.
The decision ends a case that has gripped the ice hockey community. It has also raised difficult legal questions about violence in sport, degrees of responsibility, and how far criminal law should intervene in such incidents.
Deaths in professional sport are rare, and criminal investigations following them are even rarer. Johnson’s death occurred in an extremely fast and physical game where players wear blades on their feet and routinely engage in full-contact play.
Although this was a workplace incident, since both men were employees of their respective clubs, it was not handled by the Health and Safety Executive, as many fatal incidents in other professions would be. Instead, the case was investigated by Sheffield Council and South Yorkshire Police.
The decision to arrest Petgrave surprised many in the sport. It is understood that all parties voluntarily cooperated with the investigation. What is often overlooked is that an arrest can help protect the rights of the person under investigation, ensuring legal representation and placing time limits on police questioning.
Still, many questioned the length of the process, particularly the 17-month delay and repeated bail extensions. For the families of both Johnson and Petgrave, the uncertainty has been long and painful.
What does the law saw about violence in sport?
Sport enjoys a special relationship with the law, as my research has explored. Players are generally considered to have given “implied consent” to physical contact that would otherwise be unlawful – as long as that contact stays within the normal rules of the game.
Ice hockey, with its high-speed collisions and culture of on-ice fighting, clearly tests the limits of that consent. But where is the line between a legal part of the game and criminal behaviour?
To bring a criminal charge, the CPS must be satisfied of two things. First, that there is enough evidence to provide a realistic chance of conviction. And second, that a prosecution would be in the public interest. In this case, neither threshold was met.
Criminal convictions in sport are extremely rare. In one of the few UK cases, a recreational ice hockey player, Macauley Stones, received a suspended jail sentence for grievous bodily harm during an on-ice brawl in 2017. In the trial, the judge criticised the “legal vacuum” that exists in contact sports such as ice hockey.
This grey area affects the public interest test, as all criminal cases risk complication by the confused nature of consent. So, it is not surprising that investigations into Johnson’s death took such a long time, or that the decision was ultimately made not to charge Petgrave with a crime.
Safety reforms
Johnson’s death has already led to some promising changes to ice hockey player safety. Shortly after the incident, the coroner called for neck protection to be compulsory for players.
Neck guards, which help prevent skate blade injuries, were immediately enforced by governing body England Ice Hockey, and later adopted by the Elite Ice Hockey League in which Petgrave and Johnson played. They have also been adopted by the International Ice Hockey Federation and the American Hockey League.
This rapid response was perhaps surprising in a sport that has often been slow to bring in new safety measures. Helmets only became compulsory in North America’s National Hockey League in the late 1970s, and face visors even later.
Read more: Hockey's wake-up call: Neck guards should be mandatory following Adam Johnson's death
The tragedy has also united the ice hockey community globally in raising awareness of, and funds to support, player safety. Campaigns like Adam’s Angels have raised money for player safety initiatives, including providing bleed kits to teams across the UK.
Although the criminal investigation is now closed, the broader legal questions are far from settled. Without charges being brought, the courts will not have the chance to examine the role of implied consent in this case. So, no new legal precedent will be set. That task will probably fall to the sport’s governing bodies.
Some may assume that because ice hockey is a minority sport in the UK, this case has few wider effects. But legal precedent doesn’t always stay within its original context. A ruling about consent to violence in ice hockey could have had ripple effects across other high-contact and combat sports, from rugby to boxing and beyond.
Johnson’s death shocked not only ice hockey fans but the wider sporting public. And while no criminal case will be heard, the conversation about safety in high-risk sport is far from over.
Dr Victoria Silverwood has previously received PhD funding from The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). She is affiliated with Progressive Rugby.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
