Two families endured 22 days of anguish after police wrongly identified which teenager had died and which had survived a horrific car crash, an inquest has heard. Joshua Johnson, 18, and Summer Louise Scott, 17, died following the Collision on December 13, while 17-year-old Trevor Wynn survived with serious injuries. But in the immediate aftermath, South Yorkshire Police mistakenly identified Joshua as the teenager being treated in hospital and Trevor as the young man who had died. The error meant Trevor’s family spent Christmas believing their son was dead, while Joshua’s parents maintained a bedside vigil for almost three weeks believing their son was critically injured in a coma. It was not until 22 days after the crash that forensic checks established the devastating mistake.
‘It felt like we had two deaths’
Joshua’s father, Lee Johnson, told the inquest that he and his wife had spent weeks at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital believing the critically injured teenager was their son. He said: “This information came as a huge shock and I cannot comprehend it. “It felt like, as a family, we had two deaths. I felt I had missed out on the initial grieving part of the process.” The error was eventually uncovered after Trevor came out of sedation and Joshua’s father raised concerns with police. Forensic odontologist Dr Roland Kouble carried out further checks which confirmed that Trevor was the surviving teenager in hospital and Joshua had died at the scene.
ID cards contributed to fatal crash identification error
The inquest heard that the confusion began with personal belongings scattered around the crash scene. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Knowles previously told the court that one phone case contained Joshua’s driving licence. Another phone found nearby contained medical identification information in Trevor’s name as well as a bank card bearing his name. An officer contacted Trevor’s mother, who provided a college identification card along with information about her son’s build and footwear. The officer then attended Rotherham mortuary, where the deceased male had initially been recorded as unidentified. After comparing the body with the photograph and description, the officer concluded that the person who had died was Trevor. Meanwhile, another officer travelled to hospital with the surviving teenager, who had been interacting with paramedics before being sedated. That officer was given information indicating that the casualty was Joshua. A photograph from Joshua’s driving licence was subsequently compared with the patient, and those present concluded he was Joshua. Both conclusions were wrong.
Joshua unlawfully killed
Senior Coroner Nicola Mundy concluded that Joshua had been unlawfully killed. A separate inquest into Summer’s death heard that she had been driving the Toyota when she lost control approaching a slight bend. The vehicle crossed a verge, struck a low wall and rolled before hitting a mature tree almost 50 metres from the road. Investigators used data from the Life360 tracking app on one of the phones and found the vehicle had been travelling at 95mph for around a kilometre before the collision. It had slowed to approximately 86mph around 130 metres before the bend, the inquest heard. Summer held a provisional driving licence and had not passed her driving test. The coroner concluded that Summer died as a result of a road traffic collision.
Police watchdog investigation at ‘advanced stage’
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating how the two teenagers were wrongly identified. The watchdog previously said it was “clear something has gone very wrong” and acknowledged the “awful consequences” the mistake had for both families. The IOPC said on Monday that its investigation was now at an advanced stage, with officials hoping to conclude their work “in the coming weeks”.
Originally published by UKNIP.
