Crash that killed four teens avoidable - inquest

George Herd
BBC News

A crash that killed four teenage boys when they drowned in an overturned car could have been avoided, an inquest has heard.

Hugo Morris, 18, Harvey Owen, 17, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Jevon Hirst, 16, all from Shrewsbury, died when their car left a rural road while they were on a camping trip last November.

It flipped on to its roof in a flooded ditch, leaving the four A-level students trapped.

A conclusion of road traffic collision was recorded by the senior coroner for North West Wales.

The teenagers had been visiting Eryri National Park, also known as Snowdonia, when they set off from Harlech on 19 November to spend the night camping.

But the Ford Fiesta being driven by Hugo left the A4085 road near the villages of Garreg and Llanfrothen.

The crashed car could not be seen from the road and led to a massive two day search to find the boys.

The inquest was told that a passing refuse recycling truck spotted the upturned car while on its round on the Tuesday morning.

All four students were found dead in the car.

The inquest was told that post-mortem examinations revealed none of them had any internal or external injuries, and had died as a result of drowning.

Giving evidence to the hearing, crash investigators for North Wales Police said there were "no catastrophic mechanical failures" with the car.

However, both rear tyres were only half the required inflated pressure for carrying four people.

Mr Thompson said, in his view, Hugo had driven into a bend on the road too fast, causing the vehicle to come off the road.

He said he calculated the maximum theoretical speed around the bend was 38mph.

But he added: "Having driven the bend myself the fastest speed I felt comfortable negotiating the bend was 26mph."

He said the Ford Fiesta had entered that bend at a speed that was in excess of the limit to negotiate it, even though that may well have been below the road's 60mph limit.

Mr Thompson said the actions of Hugo Morris needed to be considered in the accident.

While it had been raining heavily, with leaf cover on the road, the investigator said he did not consider weather conditions played a role in the collision.

But he said in his view, the crash "was avoidable".

Delivering her conclusion, senior coroner Kate Robertson noted that there had been inadequate signage on the approach to the bend.

She said she will also be writing to Cyngor Gwynedd and the landowner by the crash site about the need for fencing or barriers at the location.

The coroner will also write to the UK government, raising her own concerns over newly qualified drivers being able to carry passengers.

"Having considered and heard the evidence I do have a concern," she said.

Tributes were read out to all the boys by the coroner.

Harvey's mother Crystal said he was "perfect from the minute he came into the world and continued to be until he was tragically taken from us".

"Harvey had the biggest, warmest smile that radiated love and calmness and a contagious positive energy," she said.

She said "every parent's worst nightmare came true" last November and Harvey's family now faced "a lifetime of grieving the life he should be living, the time we should have had with him and the memories we should be creating".

Heather Sanderson, Wilf's mother, said she was "very proud" of her son, who was "so kind and had a lovely sense of humour".

"I will miss him for the rest of my life."

In a statement the mother of Jevon said he was "happiest when he was at home with his family".

"He was really close to his family and was loved," said Melanie Hirst.

The parents of Hugo said their son had a "thirst for life".

"No words can express our loss," said Dominic and Sarah Morris.

"Our world is shattered, bent and cracked. He is impossible to forget."

Harvey's mother, Ms Owen, said the death of her son and his friends has led to her launching a campaign to change the law for younger drivers.

She has started an online petition calling for the introduction of a graduated driving licence.

It would require new learners to have at least six months training before being able to apply for a test.

It would also ban newly-qualified drivers from carrying passengers under the age of 25 for the first six months, without an older adult present.

Speaking outside the coroner's court, Ms Owen said she was "very happy" with the outcome but the government still needed to act.

She said: "My son was able to get in the back of a car driven by a young, inexperienced driver and be driven on an unfamiliar rural road without my knowledge. He was let down by an outdated driving licence system."

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