A 17-year-old boy was misidentified as a fatal car crash victim, a coroner heard on Thursday, an error the police watchdog said meant "something has gone very wrong", leading to "awful consequences" for two families. Police initially named Trevor Wynn, 17, as the male killed in the December 13 Rotherham collision, alongside a 17-year-old girl.
The misidentification occurred after a police officer was given a description from Trevor Wynn's family and a photo ID card. South Yorkshire Police this week admitted the male victim was in fact Joshua Johnson, 18.
The mistake only surfaced this weekend when Joshua Johnson's father raised concerns. He discovered the individual he had been told was his son had emerged from sedation at Rotherham Hospital, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Knowles of South Yorkshire Police told the hearing.
Mr Knowles said Mr Johnson has now been confirmed as the male teenager who died “to a high degree of certainty” using his dental records.
The officer explained how two teenagers died and another was seriously injured when the silver Toyota Corolla they were travelling in hit a tree on Todwick Road, Rotherham, on December 13.
Mr Knowles told the hearing: “A number of items of personal property were found at the scene, though were not physically about the person of either of the males.
“One of these items was a phone in a case which also contained the driving licence of Joshua Johnson.
“A second phone nearby showed some medical ID information and was in the name of Trevor Wynn.
“A bank card in the same name was also attached.”
Mr Knowles told the court how an officer described using the information available to establish next of kin details for Trevor and then spoke to his mother.
He said Trevor’s mother provided the officer with a college ID card, as well as a description of his build and footwear.
The senior officer said: “That officer then took this ID card to Rotherham mortuary where, at that time, the deceased victim of the collision was booked in as an unknown male.
“Upon considering the comparison between the male’s features against the ID, and also considering the descriptive details of build and clothing, the officer was satisfied that this was the body of Trevor Wynn.”
He said a second officer travelled in the ambulance with the surviving teenager, who was interacting with paramedics at the scene, but was then sedated.
That officer was passed information about this person being Joshua Johnson by colleagues at the crash site, and was able to obtain a photograph from Mr Johnson’s driving licence.
He said: “The officer liaised with medical staff and the photograph was compared against the casualty.
“Those present were then satisfied that this person was Joshua Johnson.”
Mr Knowles told the court how he first became involved in the case on Monday when he was told that SYP had been contacted by Mr Johnson’s father “who expressed concern that, as the person in hospital he believed to be his son has come out of sedation, he had become concerned that there had been a misidentification”.
He explained how he set out establishing the true identity of the deceased male with “no further reliance in this case on visual recognition as a form of ID”.
This was done using forensic odontologist Dr Roland Kouble.
Doncaster and Rotherham coroner Nicola Mundy said: “It is quite clear that the identification issues have now been fully resolved.”
She told Mr Johnson’s parents, who joined the half-hour-long hearing by videolink: “I extend to you my heart-felt sympathies for the situation you have found yourself in and for the loss of your son.”
Ms Mundy adjourned the inquest after telling the court inquests for Trevor and the 17-year-girl who died, who is understood to be Summer Louise Scott, were opened on December 22.
Coroner’s officer Siobhan Golightly told the court how identification evidence was accepted at the opening of Trevor’s inquest based on photographic ID card and descriptions provided by the family.
She said there had been “no reason to doubt” the identification provided by the police.
The force has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over its identification process following the incident, and an investigation has begun.
On Thursday, IOPC director Emily Barry said: “My sincere condolences and thoughts go out to all those involved.
“It’s hard to imagine what these families have been through in the past few weeks.
“It is clear something has gone very wrong with awful consequences for them.
“We understand the concern about this incident and it is vital that we carry out a thorough investigation, independently of the police, to establish exactly how and why this happened.”
In a tribute issued through police on Wednesday, Mr Johnson’s family described him as a “loveable, gentle giant” and said they had spent “hours in hospital with who we now know to be Trevor”.
They said: “What we have been through and are continuing to go through is unimaginable.”
An 18-year-old arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and a 19-year-old held on suspicion of perverting the course of justice have been bailed pending further inquiries.
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