Radiohead demand answers over stage collapse which killed friend from South Yorkshire

Radiohead have spoken of their 'frustration' at the lack of answers since a 'friend' and 'colleague' from South Yorkshire was crushed to death.
Scott Johnson, from Doncaster, died when a stage collapsed ahead of a Radiohead gigScott Johnson, from Doncaster, died when a stage collapsed ahead of a Radiohead gig
Scott Johnson, from Doncaster, died when a stage collapsed ahead of a Radiohead gig

Scott Johnson, from Hickleton, in Doncaster, died instantly when the roof of a temporary stage collapsed on him before the band were due to perform in Canada in 2012.

Radiohead returned to Toronto this week to play for the first time since the death of the 33-year-old drum technician, whom they described as 'one of our colleagues and friends'.

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Addressing the audience on Thursday night, lead singer Thom Yorke said: "The people who should be held accountable are still not being held accountable. The silence is deafening."

The band then observed a one-minute silence in memory of Mr Johnson.

Canadian authorities charged promoter Live Nation, Optex Staging and Services and engineer Domenic Cugliari, all three of whom denied the charges, with 13 offences under health and safety laws.

Transcripts from the part-heard prosecution case showed the engineer miscalculated the total gross weight of the stage roof and its attachments by approximately 7,260 kilograms.

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But in September 2017, a newly-appointed judge ruled in favour of the defendants' application to have the case dropped to avoid over-lengthy proceedings.

Radiohead drummer Philip Selway told BBC's Newsnight this week of the band's frustration that no one had been held accountable.

"With that court case breaking down there have been no real answers and without the answers we can't ensure that an accident like this doesn't happen again, so there's real frustration," he said.

Mr Selway told the Canadian press how it had been hard returning to Toronto to play, saying there were 'still a lot of very raw feelings about Scott, and the fact that Scott isn't here with us'.

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Scott's father Ken Johnson said in February that an inquest is likely to be held in Toronto next year but he was disappointed by how the prosecutions had been handled.

He said he didn't want anyone to be jailed for his son's death but that there should be consequences for what happened.