More legal trouble for Matt Petgrave more than a year after skate death of Adam Johnson

In November 2023, Matt Petgrave was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in the death of Adam Johnson, whose neck was cut by a skate during a game that took place the previous October.

The tragic story of Johnsson began when the poor 29-year-old of the Nottingham Panthers against the Sheffield Steelers was struck by an opponent’s skate blade in the Elite Ice Hockey League game at Sheffield’s home arena in central England on Oct, 28.

During the play, Johnson can be seen skating with the puck toward the Steelers’ net. Petgrave skates toward Johnson and collides with one of his teammates. Then upon the collision, Petgrave’s left skate kicks up as he falls and the blade hits Johnson in the neck. Johnsson got up on his own and was helped off the ice, his jersey is covered in blood.

Johnsson unfortunately died as a result of a fatal neck injury. Petgrave was released on bail and has struggled not only with the terrible incident, but all the consequences that have emerged from the pending trial.

On Friday, a new update was released in the investigation as Petgrave has now been re-bailed until May 29. The bail has since been extended eight times — February 9, April 25, May 14, June 26, September 2, November 11, January 20 and most recently on February 28.

A few months ago, it was reported that Petgrave was allegedly asking for help, according to a page on CrowdJustice, a U.K. crowdfunding platform that helps individuals and groups to fund legal action.

The defenseman had revealed details of his ongoing legal ordeal and put out a public plea for donations to cover his mounting legal fees in the criminal investigation for manslaughter.

In post titled “assistance needed for legal costs regarding allegation of manslaughter,” Petgrave wrote that he is “seeking help to cover some of my legal costs following an ice hockey accident in 2023.” He went on to explain that his visa has expired which means that he can no longer earn money playing hockey, and therefore he no longer benefits from any insurance.

“On Oct. 28, 2023, I was involved in a tragic accident that resulted in the passing of fellow ice hockey player Adam Johnson.

When the investigation was first launched, Johnson’s family had chosen to step back to allow the legal process to play out. They originally supported Petgrave in the immediate aftermath of what they described as a terrible accident.

In South Yorkshire Police’s most recent public statement on the case, it states: “Any further updates or developments in this investigation ahead of the new bail expiry date will be issued proactively on our website.

“Our thoughts remain with Adam’s family and friends.”

What a sad story and how it is unfolding. Petgrave is no only dealing with the trauma from the incident, but is also struggling financially to prove he is innocent in this terrible freak accident.