Intention or misfortune? Johnson’s death is dividing the public. What will the investigation do?

It is not usual for events that take place on the ice to end in a trial. But an extraordinary moment calls for an extraordinary trial. More than two weeks have passed since the tragic death of American hockey player Adam Johnson. The arrest of Canadian player Matt Petgrave raises many questions.

The accident took place on 28 October in a Challenge Cup match between the Nottingham Panthers and the Sheffield Steelers. Twenty-nine-year-old Adam Johnson was involved in an incident with Matt Petgrave, a Sheffield Steelers player, after which he suffered a cut to his neck with a skate.

Johnson first grabbed his neck, then on his own, rushed to the bench for help. He then collapsed in the bowels of Sheffield’s Utility Arena, and later doctors pronounced Johnson dead after transporting him to a local hospital.

To set the record straight from the start, thirty-one-year-old Toronto native Matt Petgrave was arrested for investigation not for manslaughter but negligent homicide. In fact, there are various versions circulating around his hitting the American attacker in the neck with the skate.

Many discussions mention the question of whether or not Petgrave showed intent in the confrontation with Johnson. The fact that the Canadian is being investigated for involuntary manslaughter proves that virtually no one in charge is flirting with the idea that Petgrave kicked his opponent in the neck on purpose.

The investigation process

The entire process of the investigation into Matt Petgrave began on November 3 by the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) in the U.K. Earlier this week, authorities informed the public that they had arrested a man in connection with the ongoing investigation.

“Our investigation began immediately following this tragedy and since then we have been conducting an extensive investigation to piece together the events that led to the loss of Adam in these unprecedented circumstances,” SYP said in a statement posted on its website.

The suspect was taken into custody earlier this month, where he underwent detailed questioning. The name of the Canadian hockey player was not initially released, as in the UK suspects who are arrested usually have a right to privacy unless they are later charged.

SYP later reported that the male suspect was released on bail. Saying that the investigation will continue and police authorities will provide further information as soon as possible. “We have reached out to highly specialized experts in their field to assist us in our investigation,” the report said.

How is involuntary manslaughter defined?

At this point, it means Petgrave has not yet been charged. The main prosecuting body in England, called the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), says manslaughter is often committed in one of three ways.

The first is manslaughter with intent to kill, but where a partial defence, namely loss of control or diminished responsibility, is raised. The second way is where the perpetrator’s actions were very reckless given the risk of death.

The third option speaks of involuntary manslaughter, which is unlawful without intent to kill or cause serious harm. This is how Patrick Maguire, a partner at Horwich Cohen Coghlan Solicitors, explained it to The Athletic.

“There are two classes of manslaughter. There is unintentional manslaughter by unlawful act and unintentional manslaughter by gross negligence,” Maguire explained further. In other words, it is “awrongful act where someone is killed but the person who killed them did not intend to do so but did something that caused the death,” the specialist added.

Apparently, this is the case of a Canadian hockey player who was directly involved in the death of Adam Johnson. In practice, that means something like an unintentional car crash. The perpetrator caused the death through his negligence, although there was no intent whatsoever.

Patrick Maguire went on to say that no one in the UK has yet been investigated for a similar case in the sporting arena. Should the authorities prove the Canadian hockey player guilty, the punishment rate could be varied. From life imprisonment, to the granting of probation. But Maguire also noted that sentences of up to 10 years in prison are fairly common.

A very different case from the others

Although no one wishes it, in hockey, hits with skates to the neck do occasionally come up. A case in point is the 2008 slash to the throat of Slovak hockey player Richard Zednik, in which he lost approximately 2.5 litres of blood.

Something similar was seen during the NHL lockout in 2012 at a stadium in Trinec. At that time, Czech forward Jiri Hudler was taken to hospital after being hit in the neck with a skate. However, all these cases are a bit different. In Johnson’s case, the hit didn’t occur during a fight in the corner of the rink, when one of the players falls and his leg flies uncoordinated into the air.

Matt Petgrave was probably trying to stop a passing Johnson on purpose. Certainly not to injure, certainly not with his skate, but the strange leg movement is sparking heated discussions on social media.

“I’ve been watching it more lately. I don’t think it’s natural to hit a player with your left foot in that motion. If it was the right foot after a collision with a player in a duel, it’s unfortunate. But I think he hit him with his left foot. I’ve never experienced that in my career,” Jakub Voracek wrote in a discussion on social network X.

Of course, even Voracek doesn’t describe the whole situation in such a way that Petgrave hit his opponent with some unfair intention. But rather, it brings back into play the discussion of possible negligence for which the Canadian forward is being investigated.

However, the vast majority of fans and players who had the stomach to watch the video of the unfortunate situation multiple times are more likely to side with the Canadian. Above all, the players themselves overwhelmingly express the opinion that correcting their feet in a sudden collision on the ice is almost impossible.

Source: The Athletic, South Yorkshire Police