Rotherham MP ‘deeply troubled’ by South Yorkshire Police crash identification error
Sarah Champion said the mistake made by South Yorkshire Police had caused “unimaginable” pain for those affected
Rotherham’s MP has said she is “deeply troubled” by a police error that led to two families being wrongly told which teenager had died following a fatal crash near the town.
Sarah Champion said the mistake made by South Yorkshire Police had caused “unimaginable” pain for those affected and said she would be holding the force to account.
The error came to light after police admitted they had mixed up the identities of two teenage boys involved in a crash on Todwick Road between Dinnington and Todwick in the early hours of 13 December.
An 18-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl died in the collision, while another teenage boy survived. However, police initially told the family of 17-year-old Trevor Wynn that he had died, when in fact he was the survivor. It later emerged that the boy who died was 18-year-old Joshua Johnson.
In a statement, Ms Champion said: “I am deeply troubled at the catastrophic error made by South Yorkshire Police concerning the identities of two teenagers in Rotherham involved in a car collision on December 13th, in which an 18 year-old boy and 17 year-old girl very tragically lost their lives.
“My heart goes out to the families involved; I will be holding the police to account to make sure this cannot happen again. The pain they have caused is unimaginable.”
South Yorkshire Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Assistant Chief Constable Colin McFarlane said he was aware of “the additional trauma this may cause” and apologised to the families affected.
Police said concerns were raised about the identities of those involved, prompting further forensic checks, which led to the mistake being identified.