Family of teenager misidentified in deadly crash 'felt they had two deaths', inquest hears

A father who only discovered his son had died three weeks after he was in a car crash due to a police identification error said he "couldn’t comprehend it".

Lee Johnson also said he feels his family has been through two deaths.

Joshua Johnson, 18, and Summer Louise Scott, 17, died when a Toyota Corolla left Todwick Road, at Todwick, near Rotherham, and hit a tree in the early hours of 13 December last year, inquests in Doncaster heard on Monday.

A previous hearing heard police originally misidentified front seat passenger Trevor Wynn, then 17, as the male who died in the crash.

Mr Wynn's family then believed he was dead until he came out of sedation three weeks later on 4 January.

But Joshua Johnson's family had sat at the bedside of seriously injured Mr Wynn not realising their son was dead.

A statement from Mr Johnson was read at Doncaster Coroner's Court, where a coroner ruled his son was unlawfully killed, on Monday.

He explained how he and his wife spent weeks at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, in Sheffield, believing they were sitting with their seriously injured son only to be told there had been a mistake.

Mr Johnson told the hearing: "This information came as a huge shock and I cannot comprehend it.

"It felt like, as a family, we had two deaths. I felt I had missed out on the initial grieving part of the process."

Senior Rotherham coroner Nicola Mundy read the statement of Detective Chief Inspector Andy Knowles, of South Yorkshire Police, who told the court in January that the mix-up began when a number of items of personal property were found at the scene but "were not physically about the person of either of the males".

One of those items was a phone in a case which also contained Joshua Johnson's driving licence.

A second phone nearby contained medical ID information in the name of Trevor Wynn and a bank card in the same name was also attached.

Mr Knowles told the court earlier this year than an officer used this information to trace Trevor Wynn's mother, who provided a college ID card along with 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 added that a second officer with the surviving but sedated teenager was told this person was Joshua Johnson by colleagues at the crash site and was able to obtain a photograph from Joshua 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."

He explained 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", and this was done using dental records.

Separate inquests were held into the deaths of Joshua Johnson and Miss Scott on Monday.

The coroner heard how Miss Scott was driving the Toyota and lost control as she approached a slight bend.

The car went across a verge and hit a low wall which caused it to roll in the air before it struck a mature tree almost 50m from the road.

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Miss Scott had a provisional driving licence but had not passed her test, the inquest heard.

The coroner concluded that Miss Scott died as a result of a road traffic collision and Joshua Johnson was unlawfully killed.

Earlier this year, the police watchdog, which is investigating the misidentification error, said it was "clear something has gone very wrong", leading to "awful consequences" for the two families.

A spokesman for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said on Monday that the investigation was "at an advanced stage" and they hoped it would conclude "in the coming weeks".

South Yorkshire Assistant Chief Constable Colin McFarlane said: "We recognise the shock and significant distress caused by the misidentification following the collision on Todwick Road, and the unimaginable consequences this had for the families involved.

"Only those involved can truly understand."

(c) Sky News 2026: Family of teenager misidentified in deadly crash 'felt they had two deaths', inquest hears