12-year-old Windsor boy charged with assault after hockey fight in London, Ont.

Hockey rink file photo on Nov. 6, 2021. (CTV News Windsor)

A Windsor dad says he’s frustrated his 12-year-old son has been charged with assault after a fight during a hockey game in London, Ont.

The father, who CTV News is not naming to protect the identity of the youths involved, says it happened in the final game of a U14 3-on-3 hockey tournament on Family Day weekend.

“At the end of the game, one of the kids cross-checked another kid in the back, that started the altercation between the three kids on the ice,” he says. “Three kids from their bench jumped their boards to go after our three.”

The dad says players from both benches went onto the ice for the brawl, which resulted in an ambulance being called for one child who he says suffered a concussion.

He estimates about 24 players were on the ice during the fight. He says at first his son stayed on the bench, until he went to defend one of his smaller teammates involved in the melee.

“My son at that time went off the bench and went after the one kid who was hurting his friend,” says the dad.

He says it was not malicious. As far as he is aware, his son was the only one charged.

“Was it necessary to get that far? Absolutely not. It should have never got that far. I think we could have done a better job as the parents who are on the bench, the referees that were on the floor, but when they are all fighting, it’s a full game fight. Everybody is there, they are all participating. The (victim) was willingly participating.”

About two weeks later, he says London police called, asking for a statement about what happened.

“She (the police officer) says ‘well the parents on the other team of the kid that got hurt, they want to charge,” he says.

About four weeks later, he says Windsor police showed up at his door.

“He came in the house and we went through a bunch of paperwork and at the end of the day, they wanted him to plead guilty and I said no and we couldn’t do the diversion program.”

He says he became frustrated with the situation when his son was formally charged.

“This is outrageous, this is crazy, I can’t believe you’re doing this. I said he’s 12 years old. I can’t even believe you can charge a 12-year-old for this, this happens every day at the ice rinks.”

A video was allegedly recorded of the fight, but the dad says he hasn't seen it.

CTV News Windsor reached out to London police about the incident.

“As the person charged is apparently under the age of 18 and multiple media outlets are aware of the identity of the individual, we are not able to provide any specific information regarding the investigation under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act,” said a statement from London police.

The father says his son attended London police headquarters on May 17 for fingerprinting.

The court date for the incident is on May 29 in London.