British prosecutors said on Tuesday they had decided not to bring criminal charges against a professional ice hockey player following the death of American Adam Johnson during a match in October 2023.
“Following a thorough police investigation and a comprehensive review of all the evidence…we have concluded that there is not a realistic prospect of conviction for any criminal offence and so there will not be a prosecution,” the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.
Johnson, 29, who played for the Nottingham Panthers, suffered a fatal injury when his neck was cut by the blade of Matt Petgrave during the match against Sheffield Steelers in Sheffield, northern England.
The American, who had previously played in Germany and Sweden as well as in the United States’ National Hockey League (NHL), later died in hospital.
Petgrave was described as “absolutely distraught” as team-mates and other figures in the sport consoled him over the incident.
The day after the freak accident, a sea of tributes, including flowers, heartfelt messages and a shirt with the player’s No 47 were left at a makeshift shrine in Nottingham.
Among the mourners was fan Tina Taylor, who said: “It was a one in a million chance occurrence and will probably never happen again. It was a complete freak accident. She claimed Petgrave had been “receiving vile messages online” from “heartless trolls”.
She said: “He was absolutely distraught by the death of an opponent but it was a tragic accident and he was not to blame. The awful trolling must stop.”
Other ice hockey fans also reported seeing abuse online, with one posting: “After seeing the video from last night, I’m not sure how anyone can say Matt Petgrave intended to injure Adam Johnson. The abuse I’m seeing towards Matt is disgusting.”
It later emerged Johnson’s fiancee Ryan Wolfe ran onto the ice in Sheffield to pray for him as the match was abandoned in the 35th minute. She posted on Instagram: “My sweet, sweet angel. I’ll miss you forever and love you always.”
British prosecutors said on Tuesday they had decided not to bring criminal charges against a professional ice hockey player following the death of American Adam Johnson during a match in October 2023.
“Following a thorough police investigation and a comprehensive review of all the evidence…we have concluded that there is not a realistic prospect of conviction for any criminal offence and so there will not be a prosecution,” the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.
Johnson, 29, who played for the Nottingham Panthers, suffered a fatal injury when his neck was cut by the blade of Matt Petgrave during the match against Sheffield Steelers in Sheffield, northern England.
The American, who had previously played in Germany and Sweden as well as in the United States’ National Hockey League (NHL), later died in hospital.
Petgrave was described as “absolutely distraught” as team-mates and other figures in the sport consoled him over the incident.
The day after the freak accident, a sea of tributes, including flowers, heartfelt messages and a shirt with the player’s No 47 were left at a makeshift shrine in Nottingham.
Among the mourners was fan Tina Taylor, who said: “It was a one in a million chance occurrence and will probably never happen again. It was a complete freak accident. She claimed Petgrave had been “receiving vile messages online” from “heartless trolls”.
She said: “He was absolutely distraught by the death of an opponent but it was a tragic accident and he was not to blame. The awful trolling must stop.”
Other ice hockey fans also reported seeing abuse online, with one posting: “After seeing the video from last night, I’m not sure how anyone can say Matt Petgrave intended to injure Adam Johnson. The abuse I’m seeing towards Matt is disgusting.”
It later emerged Johnson’s fiancee Ryan Wolfe ran onto the ice in Sheffield to pray for him as the match was abandoned in the 35th minute. She posted on Instagram: “My sweet, sweet angel. I’ll miss you forever and love you always.”
