Todwick Road: Photo ID found at scene of fatal Rotherham car crash led to identity mix-up
A teenage crash victim was wrongly believed dead after police relied on photo ID found at the scene, an inquest was told today.
The catastrophic mix-up followed a horror crash in Rotherham, which left one 18-year-old boy dead and another teenager fighting for his life.
Police told relatives that Trevor Wynn, aged17, had been killed in the crash on Todwick Road on December 13.
But it emerged three weeks later that it was in fact Joshua Johnson, 18, who lost his life, alongside driver Summer Louise Scott, 17.
Doncaster Coroner's Court today (January 8) heard how the misidentification stemmed from items recovered at the crash scene.
Giving evidence, Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Knowles, South Yorkshire Police's senior identification manager, said: "A number of items were found at the scene, but not about the persons involved.
"One of those was a phone case that contained a driving licence for Joshua Johnson.
"A second phone case showed some medical ID in the name of Trevor Wynn.
"A bank card attached to that phone case was in the same name."
The court heard that an officer contacted Trevor's mother, who provided a college ID card along with a description of his appearance, build and footwear.
DCI Knowles continued: "That officer took the ID card with them to the mortuary at Rotherham Hospital where, at that time, the deceased had been booked in as an unnamed person.
"The officer was satisfied that this was the body of Trevor Wynn."
Meanwhile, another officer travelled in an ambulance with the surviving male, who had been sedated at the scene and taken to hospital.
"The officer with the casualty described being passed the name of Joshua Johnson at the scene and was able to obtain a photo from the driving licence,” DCI Knowles added.
"Those present were satisfied that the person in hospital was Joshua Johnson."
The devastating error went unnoticed until Sunday, January 4, when Joshua's father contacted police saying he did not believe the teenager in hospital was his son after he came out of sedation.
At that point, police launched a forensic review and agreed to no longer rely on visual identification.
Dental records were obtained, which confirmed Joshua Johnson had died, while Trevor Wynn was in fact the survivor.
DCI Knowles said he was confident the ID issues had now been "resolved to a high level of certainty".
The court was told that an inquest had previously been opened for Trevor Wynn on December 22.
But coroner's officer Siobhan Golightly said she was informed of new evidence surrounding identification on January 4.
She said: "At no point prior had any individual raised any concerns whatsoever which caused me to question the identity of the deceased."
Senior Coroner Nicola Mundy said that "appropriate amendments" would be made to court paperwork.
The hearing was attended via video link by Joshua's parents, who were passed "heartfelt sympathies" by the coroner.