The junior hockey player was sentenced for the abuse committed as a young person. According to the lawyer, handling ice hockey events in court is rare.
Last week, the District Court of Varsinais-Suomen issued a verdict regarding the situation that happened in the under-17 hockey match.
The young hockey player was convicted of assault as a young person. He had hit a player coming up from the ground after a contact situation with a stick in the neck. Both the defendant and the interested party were minors at the time of the incident.
The defendant was fined 25 per day, which means 150 euros on his income. In addition, he must pay the interested party more than 1,400 euros in compensation, including interest, for pain and medical expenses, among other things. The defendant must also pay the court costs of the interested party, 1,881 euros.
The defendant admitted that he hit the neck with a stick, but denied that he had committed physical violence with the intention of assault. He was later banned for ten games for the incident.
After the attack, the plaintiff suffered from pain for a few months and it made it difficult for him to go to school. He tried playing again after two months with the help of painkillers.
The judgment is not legally binding and can be appealed to the Court of Appeal.
The ice hockey player has given his consent
It is relatively rare to deal with incidents in ice hockey in criminal law. In the discussed cases, however, the Supreme Court’s 1996 decision has been used. According to it, as a rule, only acts that are clearly different from usual gaming events can become the subject of a criminal assessment.
Lawyer Seppo Hytönen says that the limit of abuse is practically when the referee has blown the whistle.
– Then the game stops. If after that a person goes to another player and hits them with a bat, it is abuse because it is no longer a game situation, Hytönen tells Urheilu.
The decision of the Supreme Court also takes into account that by participating in the game, the hockey player can be considered to have accepted that he can get mild injuries during the match due to illegal tackles.
– In a game situation, the person has given his consent to the fact that he can be taken hard and scolded. After that, it’s abuse, says Hytönen.
The unwritten rules of the sport
In the recent case of young ice hockey players, the district court found that the defendant had exceeded the limits of usual brutality and use of force. The current situation was especially compared to the 1997 case. In it, the hockey player hit the opponent’s player in the neck with a cross and was sentenced for assault. The plaintiff suffered a concussion from the situation, among other things.
According to Hytönen, it is relatively rare that situations that happened in hockey are discussed in court. During his 45-year career, he has not handled a single case yet, but he has certainly given advice to others.
– Ice hockey has its own unwritten rules on the matter. If you go to raise things, it has its own effect on the player’s career. We prefer to swallow things rather than to bring things up, says Hytönen.
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