'It demands a full investigation' says South Yorkshire Mayor as police wrongly identify Rotherham crash victim
South Yorkshire’s Mayor has voiced his support for an investigation into how the teenage victims of a fatal collision were wrongly identified.
Earlier today, South Yorkshire Police released a statement admitting that they wrongly identified a teenage victim who died in a fatal collision on Todwick Road, in Rotherham, on December 13.
Initially, police had said that a 17-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, thought to have been Trevor Wynn, had died in the incident.
Trevor’s family was informed of the tragic news, while a third victim - believed at the time to have been Joshua Johnson, 18 - was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
However, today (January 6) it was revealed that police had wrongly identified Trevor, who was in fact the one taken to hospital.
Meanwhile Joshua had tragically died in the collision.
In a statement admitting the error, Assistant Chief Constable Colin McFarlane said the force has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
He added: “This has obviously come as a huge shock to everyone and we recognise the additional trauma this may cause. We are supporting Trevor and all the families through this and have engaged specialist agencies to help provide that support.”
South Yorkshire Mayor, Oliver Coppard - whose office manages Police and Crime Commissioner responsibilities - has now shared a statement with The Star in which he said that the situation demands ‘a full investigation’ into what went wrong and what systems must change to avoid this ever happening again
Mr Coppard continued: “My heart goes out to Trevor Wynn, his family and the families of Joshua Johnson and the young woman so tragically killed in the road traffic collision late last year. I don’t know that any of us can imagine what their families and friends have been going through over these past few weeks.
"I’ve spoken directly with the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, who has briefed me on the events leading up to today’s announcement and I welcome their decision to refer the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
"As the police have rightfully acknowledged, an incident of this nature demands a full investigation and changes to any processes that have allowed families to be put in this position.
“I will of course continue to monitor the situation, and the support offered to the families of those affected as they continue to try to make sense of such a tragic situation.”